Human-Biomonitoring And Individual Soil Measurements For Children And Mothers In An Area With Recently Detected Mercury-Contaminations And Public Health Concerns: A Cross-Sectional Study

In this study, we assessed intracorporal mercury concentrations in subjects living on partially mercury-contaminated soils in a defined area in Switzerland. We assessed 64 mothers and 107 children who resided in a defined area for at least 3months. Mercury in biological samples (urine and hair) was measured, a detailed questionnaire was administered for each individual, and individual mercury soil values were obtained. Human biomonitoring results were compared with health-related and reference values. Mothers and children in our study had geometric means (GMs) of 0.22 mu g Hg/g creatinine in urine (95th percentile (P95)=0.85 mu g Hg/g) and 0.16 mu g Hg/g (P95=0.56 mu g Hg/g), respectively. In hair, mothers and children had GMs of 0.21 mu g Hg/g (P95=0.94 mu g/g) and 0.18 mu g/g (P95=0.60 mu g/g), respectively. We found no evidence for an association between mercury values in soil and those in human specimens nor for a health threat in residential mothers and children.