Relationship between Mercury in 6-11 years Aged Children's Hair and Fish Consumption

Mercury is the most toxic metal that causes environmental pollution and is harmful to human health. understanding more about mercury exposure and necessity to monitor this element,in order to prevent nerve system demage in children living in Caspian Sea coastal regions. In this study, mercury content of hair in 74 children (6-11 years old) and the influencing factors such as age, sex, fish consumption and living place were assessed. The mercury in the hair was measured by LECO AMA 254 Advanced Mercury Analyzer (USA), according to ASTM, standard NO.D-6722. ListenRead phonetically The mean of concentration of mercury in children’s hair was found to be 1.46±0.62 (μg g-1). The results showed that the fish consumption by children (p=0.00) significantly affected the content of mercury in the hair of subjects. Other factors had no effect on the mercury content of children’s hair. The mean mercury concentration in children’s hair was higher than the reference dose of mercury recommended by USEPA and it was lower than threshold level of WHO. Mercury level was higher than the USEPA reference dose (1μg g-1) in 81% of the samples and it was more than the WHO ‘Normal’ level (2 μg g-1) in 16% of the samples. Since consumption of mercury contaminated fish can increase the mercury content of children’s hair, consumption of less contaminated fish is recommended.