Hair mercury levels in relation to fish consumption in a community of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast

Hecham Elhamri (1) , Larbi Idrissi (1) , Marina Coquery (2) , Sabine Azemard (3) , Abdellah Elabidi (1) , Mohamed Benlemlih (4) , Mohamed Saghi (5) , Francesco Cubadda (6)

1 Departement of Toxicology
2 Département Milieux aquatiques
3 IAEA-MEL - Marine Environment Laboratories [Monaco]
4 Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology
5 Laboratory of Pollution, Ecotoxicology and Sanitary Risk
6 National Centre for Food Quality and Risk Assessment

Coastal populations with high seafood consumption in the Mediterranean have a significant exposure to dietary methylmercury and areas where environmental mercury pollution is an issue due to industrial activities are of special concern. The present study was undertaken with the aim of assessing methylmercury exposure through fish consumption in a community of north Morocco and characterizing the relevant health risk. Concentrations of total mercury were determined in human hair, a biomarker of methylmercury exposure, and in locally consumed fish by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Based on consumption frequencies reported by the 108 subjects included in the study the weekly intake of methylmercury was estimated and biomarker data were evaluated in relation to the estimated intake and the sociodemographic characteristics of the population. Multiple regression analysis was employed for interpretation of hair mercury data in relation to fish consumption frequency, gender and age of individuals. Mercury concentrations in hair ranged from 0.22 to 9.56 µg/g (geometric mean 1.79 µg/g) and were closely related to fish intake. Fisherman and their families consumed fish 3-5 times per week and were the most exposed population subgroup. A high proportion of women of childbearing age (50%) had relatively high levels of mercury in their hairs (3.08-7.88 µg/g).

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Hecham Elhamri, Larbi Idrissi, Marina Coquery, Sabine Azemard, Abdellah Elabidi, et al.. Hair mercury levels in relation to fish consumption in a community of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2007, 24 (11), pp.1236-1246. ⟨10.1080/02652030701329611⟩. ⟨hal-00577451⟩