Cent Eur J Public Health 2009, 17(1):36-40 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3513

Mercury and Methylmercury in Hair of Selected Groups of Czech Population

Kateřina Wranová1,3, Mája Čejchanová1, Věra Spěváčková1, Vlasta Korunová2, Miloslav Vobecký2, Václav Spěváček4
1 National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
3 Charles University Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Prague, Czech Republic
4 Technical University Prague, Faculty of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic

As the concentration of methylmercury (MeHg) in the environment is insignificant, hair can be used as a suitable matrix to estimate endogenous MeHg exposure. A validated analytical method with AMA 254 spectrometer was used for the determination of inorganic mercury and methylmercury species in the hair of dentists, workers in fish industry and professionally non-exposed adults. ANOVA and QC Expert software was used for statistical evaluation. The number of amalgam fillings in oral cavity, consumption of fish, gender, smoking habits and age of the subjects were taken into account. A significantly higher level of inorganic bound mercury (Hgin) was found in the hair of dentists. The number of amalgam fillings had a slightly significant effect on Hgin; fish consumption had a significant influence on MeHg and slightly also on Hgin. Other parameters were not significant.

Keywords: methylmercury, hair, sampling, contamination, storage, population groups

Received: August 5, 2008; Revised: November 10, 2008; Accepted: November 10, 2008; Published: March 1, 2009  Show citation

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Wranová K, Čejchanová M, Spěváčková V, Korunová V, Vobecký M, Spěváček V. Mercury and Methylmercury in Hair of Selected Groups of Czech Population. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2009;17(1):36-40. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3513. PubMed PMID: 19418718.
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