Abstract
The evaluation of mercury impact on humans is currently nonspecific because the body characteristics (homeostasis) of each human being varies. Therefore, in the early diagnosis of mercury toxicity, one of the most important monitoring parameters is the respiratory function examination. In this study, respiratory function was examined with a portable spirometer and correlated with the mercury levels in hair from the noses and heads of subjects. Samples were taken from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas (villages of East Tulabolo and Dunggilata) and control areas (villages of Bongo and Longalo) in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia. A statistical analysis with the Mann–Whitney test (alternative) showed significant differences in lung function between the polluted and control areas (α = 0.03). The analysis of nasal and head hair samples with particle-induced X-ray emissions (PIXE) showed that the mercury levels in the ASGM area were considerably higher than in the more homogeneous control areas. This study confirms that a pulmonary function test is a quick and precise alternative way to monitor the impact of mercury on humans, especially atmospheric mercury, because we detected a negative correlation between pulmonary function and the level of mercury in hair.
Highlights
IntroductionEconomic problems are thought to be the main cause of the unresolved issues in these areas [1,2,3]
We present data from an analysis of human respiratory function, which we compared with themercury levels in human hair
We considered the forced vital capacity (FVC), the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and the overall interpretation of the spirometry test
Summary
Economic problems are thought to be the main cause of the unresolved issues in these areas [1,2,3]. This is consistent with the increasing levels of pollution caused by mining activities [4]. The effects of mercury on the human body generate a wide variety of symptoms and manifestations [8,10,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]. In the history of mercury effects on humans, the term “mad as a hatter”
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