Domain specific effects of postnatal toenail methylmercury exposure on child behaviour

•Total mercury levels in nine year old Pacific children could possibly be used as a baseline or reference value for future studies.•Aggressive behaviour was associated with total toenail mercury exposure after adjusting for gender, ethnicity and income levels.•Valuable information on the total mercu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology 2017-05, Vol.41, p.10-15
Main Authors: Karatela, Shamshad, Paterson, Janis, Ward, Neil I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child
Child Behavior - drug effects
Child behaviour
Female
Humans
Male
Mercury
Methylmercury
Methylmercury Compounds - adverse effects
Methylmercury Compounds - analysis
Toenail biomarker
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Summary:•Total mercury levels in nine year old Pacific children could possibly be used as a baseline or reference value for future studies.•Aggressive behaviour was associated with total toenail mercury exposure after adjusting for gender, ethnicity and income levels.•Valuable information on the total mercury levels in nine-year-old Pacific children which could possibly be used as a baseline or reference value for future studies. Very little is known about the relationship between postnatal methylmercury concentrations (via toenails as bioindicator) and behavioural characteristics of Pacific Island children living in New Zealand. The aim of this study was to explore the association between total mercury exposure and different domains of behavioural problems in Pacific children. A sample of nine-year-old Pacific Island children resident in Auckland, New Zealand participated in this study. Total mercury was determined in biological samples (toenail clippings) on behavioural problems as identified by mothers (using the child behaviour checklist). Specific behavioural domains, particularly aggression, rule breaking, attention and social problems were studied in relation to mercury exposure using toenails. The determination of mercury concentration in toenail clippings, after acid digestion was carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The observational study was conducted between July 2010 and July 2011 in which 278 eligible nine-year-old Pacific Island children were enrolled (Girls n=58%; boys n=42%). showed that 21% of the children had total toenail mercury concentrations (1.5μg/g to 6μg/g) higher than the United State Environmental Protection Agency recommended levels (RfD; 1μg/g Hg) for optimal health in children. Aggressive behaviour was associated with total toenail mercury exposure after adjusting for gender, ethnicity and income levels (OR: 2.15 95% CI 1.45, 3.18 p-value
ISSN:0946-672X
1878-3252
DOI:10.1016/j.jtemb.2017.01.003