US EPA

4975936 

Journal Article 

Human exposure to mercury: A critical assessment of the evidence of adverse health effects 

Ratcliffe, HE; Swanson, GM; Fischer, LJ 

1996 

1 

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
ISSN: 0098-4108 

49 

3 

221-270 

English 

BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. The ubiquitous nature of mercury in the environment, its global atmospheric cycling, and its toxicity to humans at levels that are uncomfortably close to exposures experienced by a proportion of the population are some of the current concerns associated with this pollutant. The purpose of this review is to critically evaluate the scientific quality of published reports involving human exposures to mercury and associated health outcomes as an aid in the risk evaluation of this chemicaL A comprehensive review of the scientific literature involving human exposures to mercury was performed and each publication evaluated using a defined set of criteria that are considered standards in epidemiologic and toxicologic research. Severe, sometimes fatal, effects of mercury exposure at high levels were primarily reported as case studies. The disasters in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s and in Iraq in 1971-1972 clearly demonstrated neurologic effects associated with ingestion of meth