Mercury contamination in hair of riverine populations of Apiacás Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon

Total and inorganic Hg in 55 samples of hair from riverines, mainly descended from Munduruku and Apiaka Indians, living along the rivers Teles Pires and Juruena have been determined. The sampled population represents 18% of the inhabitants of the region and they eat fish 6 or 7 days a week. Cold-vap...

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Published inWater, air, and soil pollution Vol. 97; no. 1-2; pp. 1 - 8
Main Authors Barbosa, Antonio C, Garcia, Angelica M, de Souza, Jurandir R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01.06.1997
Subjects
Age
Atomic absorption analysis
Bioaccumulation
Contamination
Environmental monitoring
Fish
Food contamination
Freshwater
Hair
Ingestion
Mercury
Populations
Reserves
Spectroscopy
Bolivia, Santa Cruz, Puerto Suarez, Pantanal
South America, Amazon R
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Summary:Total and inorganic Hg in 55 samples of hair from riverines, mainly descended from Munduruku and Apiaka Indians, living along the rivers Teles Pires and Juruena have been determined. The sampled population represents 18% of the inhabitants of the region and they eat fish 6 or 7 days a week. Cold-vapor AAS and alkaline digestion with CdCl2/SnCl2 as reducing agent were employed to estimate total Hg in hair samples. A LDC Analytical, Mod. 1255, Mercury monitor was used for Hg determination. The mean value of total Hg was 34.2kg g-1, with an average of 87.2% of organic Hg Ninety-three per cent of the sampled population present levels of Hg above 10kg g-1, and 18% over 50kg g-1. A relationship between the mean value of Hg and age of the sampled population is presented. All women at child-bearing age present concentrations of Hg above 10kg g-1. Fifty-four per cent of them had levels over 30kg g-1, with a mean of 41.2kg g-1. For the children under ten years of age, 14% show Hg concentration above 50kg g-1. Comparison of these results with those obtained in 10 other Amazon surveys (n=1672) is shown. The results of the concentration of mercury in fish, mainly piscivorous (n=967) from Amazonian and Wetland (pantanal matogrossense) are also presented, with a mean of 726 ng mg-1. There appears to be a relationship between level of Hg in human and their food ingestion habits.
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ISSN:0049-6979
1573-2932
DOI:10.1023/A:1018336820227