Abstract
A cohort of 1022 consecutive singleton births during 1986-87 in the Faroe Islands, born to mothers who had consumed methylmercury-polluted pilot whale meat and having increased mercury concentrations in cord blood and maternal hair, received neurobehavioral evaluations at 7 years of age at Odense University, Denmark.
Highlights
Faroe Islands, born to mothers who had consumed methylmercury-polluted pilot whale meat and having increased mercury concentrations in cord blood and maternal hair, received neurobehavioral evaluations at 7 years of age at Odense University, Denmark
Attention, and memory, and to a lesser extent in visuospatial and motor functions were revealed, even in children born to mothers with hair mercury concentrations below 10 mcg/g (50 nmol/g)
Neurobehavioral dysfunction in children born in the Faroe Islands can be related to prenatal methylmercury exposure, and has been detected at exposure levels currently considered safe
Summary
PRENATAL METHYLMERCURY AND COGNITIVE DEFICIT A cohort of 1022 consecutive singleton births during 1986-87 in the Faroe Islands, born to mothers who had consumed methylmercury-polluted pilot whale meat and having increased mercury concentrations in cord blood and maternal hair, received neurobehavioral evaluations at 7 years of age at Odense University, Denmark. Attention, and memory, and to a lesser extent in visuospatial and motor functions were revealed, even in children born to mothers with hair mercury concentrations below 10 mcg/g (50 nmol/g). A doubling in mercury exposure was associated with a developmental delay of 2 months.
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