Abstract
In order to evaluate the occupational exposure of dental professionals to metallic mercury in dental offices of a public primary health care in the city of Maringa, Brazil, samples of blood and urine were collected from 149 dental professionals (group exposed), and 51 healthy adults similar for age and gender of the exposed group (control group) in September and October, 2008. Urinary mercury was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, urea and creatinine in blood and urine by UV/VIS spectrophotometry and analysis of physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of the urine by reactive bands. The program 'Statistic' version 7.1 and the software R version 2.6.2 were used for the statistical calculations. Urinary mercury was 2.08 ± 2.11 μg g -1 creatinine in workers exposed to mercury and 0.36 ± 0.62 μg g -1 creatinine in the control group (p < 0.05). Urinary levels of mercury were below the maximum allowed by the biological index established in Brazil (35 μg g -1 creatinine); 11% of these professionals (n = 16) had mercury levels above the reference value (5.0 μg g -1 creatinine), whereas the maximum value found was 13 μg g -1 creatinine. The dental professionals of public primary health care in the city of Maringa was exposed to metallic mercury at levels 5.8 times higher than the non-exposed subjects.
Highlights
Mercury is the metal found in liquid form, which emits toxic colourless and inodorous vapours and offers contamination risks during handling, since the main introduction of mercury into the body is through inhalation (GLINA et al, 1997; BOERING, 2000)
We evaluated by the analysis of mercury in the urine the occupational exposure of dental professionals to metallic mercury in dental offices of public primary health care units in Maringá, Brazil
The other group consisted of 149 people occupationally exposed to mercury in dental offices of public primary health care units, represented in this study by dentists, dental office assistants (DOAs), and dental hygiene technicians (DHTs)
Summary
Mercury is the metal found in liquid form, which emits toxic colourless and inodorous vapours and offers contamination risks during handling, since the main introduction of mercury into the body is through inhalation (GLINA et al, 1997; BOERING, 2000). The average levels of urinary mercury in dentists of the American Dental Association were 14.2, 5.8 and 7.6 μg.L-1 in samples collected between 19751983, 1985 and 1986, respectively (NALEWAY et al, 1985; NALEWAY et al, 1991). The decrease in urinary levels of mercury is due to handling care, use of safe amalgamators, and the decrease of weekly working hours of dental professionals. The most used biomarkers to evaluate the exposure to mercury are the mercury determination in blood, urine and hair (GOYER; LARKSON, 2001). The determination of mercury in the urine enables to evaluate the total amount of this metal stored in the workers exposed, as well as recent exposure (MASON et al, 2001; NUTTALL, 2004). We evaluated by the analysis of mercury in the urine the occupational exposure of dental professionals to metallic mercury in dental offices of public primary health care units in Maringá, Brazil. We compared these professionals with a group which was not occupationally exposed to the metal
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