| Mercury and methylmercury in fish and human hair from the Tapajós river basin, Brazil. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 8560242 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Mercury is being released in the Amazon in an abusive way due to goldmining activities. The Tapajós river basin was the first to be intensively exploited in the modern Amazon gold rush. Fish and hair samples as the best indicators of human methylmercury contamination were investigated in the main cities and villages along the Tapajós river basin. The upper basin has typical fish fauna with much larger carnivorous fish with higher mercury levels reaching an average value of 0.69 microgram.g-1 wet wt. in 43 fish. This was accompanied by high levels in hair of the human population living in the same area. The maximum hair value reach 151 micrograms.g-1 dry wt. with two villages presenting an average value close to 25 micrograms.g-1 dry wt. An analytical laboratory intercalibration exercise was performed between Japanese and Brazilian laboratories for total mercury analysis. Critical fish, areas, and more exposed human groups are identified. |
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Authors:
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O Malm; F J Branches; H Akagi; M B Castro; W C Pfeiffer; M Harada; W R Bastos; H Kato |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Science of the total environment Volume: 175 ISSN: 0048-9697 ISO Abbreviation: Sci. Total Environ. Publication Date: 1995 Dec |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 1996-02-23 Completed Date: 1996-02-23 Revised Date: 2004-11-17 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0330500 Medline TA: Sci Total Environ Country: NETHERLANDS |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 141-50 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Laboratório de Radioisótopos Eduardo Penna Franca, Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), CCS, Ilha do Fundão, Brasil. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Brazil Fishes* Food Contamination Fresh Water Gold Hair / chemistry* Humans Mercury / analysis* Methylmercury Compounds / analysis* Mining Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis* |
| Chemical | |
Reg. No./Substance:
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0/Methylmercury Compounds; 0/Water Pollutants, Chemical; 7439-97-6/Mercury; 7440-57-5/Gold |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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