Skip to main content
PMC home page
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
editorial
. 2010 Jan 1;101(1):28–31. doi: 10.1007/BF03405557

Methylmercury Blood Guidance Values for Canada

Melissa Legrand 19,✉, Mark Feeley 29, Constantine Tikhonov 39, Deborah Schoen 49, Angela Li-Muller 59
PMCID: PMC6973950  PMID: 20364534

Abstract

Exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) from fish and marine mammal consumption continues to present a public health concern. To date, developmental neurotoxicity is the most sensitive health outcome, forming the basis for health-risk assessments and the derivation of biomonitoring guidance values. This article summarizes existing Health Canada MeHg blood guidance values for general population and expands them to include a harmonized provisional interim blood guidance value of 8 µg/L based on the existing provisional Tolerable Daily Intake for children, pregnant women and women of childbearing age. Associated public health actions, according to age, sex, and level of exposure are recommended.

Keywords: Methylmercury, biomonitoring, guidance

Footnotes

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

References

  • 1.Health Canada. Human Health Risk Assessment of Mercury in Fish and Health Benefits of Fish Consumption. Ottawa, ON: Health Canada; 2007. [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA. Safety Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and Contaminants. Series No. 52. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2004. [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Medical Services Branch. Methylmercury in Canada: Exposure of Indian and Inuit Residents to Methylmercury in the Canadian Environment. Ottawa: Department of National Health and Welfare; 1979. [Google Scholar]
  • 4.National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2000. p. 344. [Google Scholar]
  • 5.World Health Organization WHO. Methylmercury. Environmental Health Criteria 101. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1990. [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA. Safety Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and Contaminants. Series No. 58. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2007. [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Wheatley B, Paradis S. Exposure of Canadian Aboriginal Peoples to methylmercury. Water, Air Soil Pol. 1995;80:3–11. doi: 10.1007/BF01189647. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Swedish Expert Group. Methylmercury in Fish. A Toxicologic-Epidemiologic Evaluation of Risks. Nordisk Hygiensk Tidskrift, Suppl. 4. Stockholm. Sweden: National Institute of Public Health; 1971. [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA. Evaluation of Mercury, Lead, Cadmium and the Food Additives Amaranth, Diethylpyrocarbamate and Octyl Gallate. Series, No 4. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1972. [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Feeley MM, Lo MT. Risk assessment for mercury in Health Canada - Development of the Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake (pTDI) value. Proceedings of the Conference on Mercury in Eastern Canada & the Northeast States. 1998. [Google Scholar]
  • 11.World Health Organization WHO. Methylmercury. Environmental Health Criteria 1. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1976. [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Bakir F, Damluji SF, Amin-Zaki L, Murtadha M, Khalidi A, Al-Rawi NY, et al. Methylmer-cury poisoning in Iraq: An interuniversity report. Science. 1973;181(4096):230–41. doi: 10.1126/science.181.4096.230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Phelps RW, Clarkson TW, Kershaw TG, Wheatley B. Interrelationships of blood and hair mercury concentrations in North American population exposed to methylmercury. Arch Environ Health. 1980;35(3):161–67. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1980.10667486. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Clarkson TW. Exposure to methylmercury in Grassy Narrows and Whitedog reserves. Report for the Medical Services Branch, Health and Welfare Canada, Ottawa, ON. 1976. [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Kershaw TG, Dhahir PH, Clarkson TW. The relationship between blood levels and dose of methylmercury in man. Arch Environ Health. 1980;35(1):28–36. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1980.10667458. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Budtz-Jorgensen E, Grandjean P, Keiding N, White RF, Weihe P. Benchmark dose calculations of methylmercury-associated neurobehavioral deficits. Toxicol Lett. 2000;112–113:193–99. doi: 10.1016/S0378-4274(99)00283-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Crump K V, Landingham C, Shamlaye C, Cox C, Davidson PW, Myers GJ, Clarkson TW. Benchmark concentrations for methylmercury obtained from the Seychelles Child Development Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2000;18(3):257–63. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Van Wijngaarden E, Beck C, Shamlaye CF, Cernichiari E, Davidson PW, Myers GJ, Clarkson TW. Benchmark concentrations for methyl mercury obtained from the 9-year follow-up of the Seychelles Child Development Study. Neurotoxicol. 2006;27:702–9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2006.05.016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Crump KS, Kjellstrom T, Shipp AM, Silvers A, Stewart A. Influence of prenatal mercury exposure upon scholastic and psychological test performance: Benchmark analysis of a New Zealand cohort. Risk Analysis. 1998;18(6):701–13. doi: 10.1023/B:RIAN.0000005917.52151.e6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Katz S, Chatt A. Hair Analysis: Application in the Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. New York, NY: VH Publishers; 1988. pp. 6–12. [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Hislop JS, Collier TR, White GP, Khathing D, French E. The use of keratinised tissues to monitor the detailed exposure of man to methylmercury from fish. In: Brown SS, editor. Clinical Toxicology and Clinical Chemistry of Metals. New York: Academic Press; 1983. [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Grandjean P, Jørgensen PJ, Weihe P. Validity of mercury exposure biomarkers. In: Wilson SH, Suk WA, editors. Biomarkers of Environmentally Associated Disease: Technologies, Concepts and Perspectives. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2002. [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Canuel R, Boucher De Grosbois S, Atikesse L, Lucotte M, Arp P, Ritchie C, Mergler D, et al. New evidence on variations of human body burden of methylmercury from fish consumption. Environ Health Perspect. 2006;114:302–6. doi: 10.1289/ehp.7857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Van Oostdam J, Donaldson SG, Feeley M, Arnold D, Ayotte P, Bondy G, et al. Human health implications of environmental contaminants in Arctic Canada: A review. Sci Total Environ. 2005;52:165–246. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.03.034. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25.Wong SL, Lye EJD. Lead, mercury and cadmium levels in Canadians. Health Reports. 2008;19(4):31–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Legrand M, Arp P, Ritchie C, Chan HM. Mercury exposure in two coastal communities of the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Environ Res. 2005;98:14–21. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2004.07.006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Morrissette J, Takser L, St-Amour G, Smargiassi A, Lafond J, Mergler D. Temporal variation of blood and hair mercury levels in pregnancy in relation to fish consumption history in a population living along the St. Lawrence River. Environ Res. 2004;95:363–74. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2003.12.007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Institut National de Santé Publique du Quebec INSPQ. Etude sur l’établissement des valeurs de référence d’éléments traces et de métaux dans le sang et l’urine de la population de la grande région de Québec. Québec, QC: Direction Toxicologie Humaine, Direction de Risques Environnementaux et Occupationnels; 2003. [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Cole DC, Kearney J, Sanin LH, Leblanc A, Weber JP. Blood mercury levels among Ontario anglers and sport-fish eaters. Environ Res. 2004;95:305–14. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2003.08.012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.Innis SM, Palaty J, Vaghri Z, Lockitch M. Increased levels of mercury associated with high fish intakes among children from Vancouver, Canada. J Pediatr. 2006;148:759–63. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.02.001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES