Abstract
Mercury is a metal found in the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources. It is highly toxic to ecosystems and living beings. Most human exposures come from ingestion of contaminated seafood, outgassing from dental amalgam or occupational exposure (e.g. gold mining), among other cases. Large populations are exposed to mercury, making it a very important issue from the public health perspective. Adverse health effects are commonly seen in the nervous system, but every organ is a potential target, such as the bone marrow. The main goal of this study was to assess the available evidence on human exposure to mercury and its hematological effects. A search strategy was constructed, including key terms (MeSH, text word and equivalents) for querying 2 repositories of master dissertation and PhD thesis (Fiocruz/ARCA and University of São Paulo) and 4 different electronic databases: BVS/LILACS, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus and TOXLINE/NIH, for articles published from 1950 to February 2018. There was no language restriction and a tool (EPHPP) was used to assess the quality of included studies. According to pre-established criteria, 80 studies were retrieved, all of them observational (48 case reports, 24 cross-sectional, 6 case series and 2 cohorts), comprising 9,284 people. Despite the fact that most exposed ones (6,012) had normal blood cell count and mercury hematological effects did not seem very usual (1,914 cases: 14 severe and 29 deaths), three studies reported association (β) for anemia, lymphopenia, neutrophilia and basophilia. We concluded that the gathered information pointed to mercury hematotoxic effects, some of them may be serious and even fatal.
Highlights
Mercury is a heavy metal considered as the most toxic non-radioactive element in the world
It is released to the atmosphere from four different sources: (i) primary natural, responsible for 10%; (ii) primary anthropogenic; (iii) secondary anthropogenic, both anthropogenic responsible for 30%; and (iv) remobilization and re-emissions, responsible for 60% 2
Hematological effects were considered as any blood cell alteration concerning number 20 and the normal values of mercury on biological matrices were those presented by the authors
Summary
Mercury is a heavy metal considered as the most toxic non-radioactive element in the world It is ubiquitous, indestructible and exists in three forms in nature: inorganic, metallic and organic 1. It poses a risk to miners, estimated at 10 to 19 million workers, of which 5 million are women and children, in more than 70 countries, and to the environment and general population by water and air 2,5. Such large variation of human exposure to mercury makes it a very important issue from the public health perspective 6,7
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
