Evaluation of changes in mercury concentrations in the hair length and methyl mercury daily intake in women resident in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Mahshahr Cities

Information about the history of exposed individuals to mercury and monitoring mercury levels in body can be obtained by analyzing the longitudinal section of hair. The aim of this study was to analyze changes of mercury concentrations in hair length and daily mercury intake in women living in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Mahshahr cities.
In this cross-sectional and questionnaire study, 43 hair samples were randomly collected from women in fisher and non-fishermen families. Mercury concentrations were determined by LECO AMA 254, Advanced Mercury Analyzer (USA) according to ASTM standard NO.D-6722.
The mean mercury concentration in hair was 2.31 μg/g. ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference among the mercury concentrations in the various parts of hairs. The mean daily mercury intake was 0.24 μg/kg/day. Age, fish consumption, city of residence, fishermen and non-fishermen family had a statistically significant effect on the daily mercury intake in the women but the number of dental amalgam filling variable had no significant effect on the daily mercury intake.
During the 6 month period that the study was conducted, the methyl mercury uptake in the women was steady. The daily intake of mercury in 23% of the women was exceeded JECFA guidelines. Also, according to possible risks for mercury exposure, it is necessary to study on mercury risk assessment, considering all possible routes for mercury exposure in these cities.