US EPA

4979629 

Journal Article 

Maternal And Fetal Mercury And N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids As A Risk And Benefit Of Fish Consumption 

Sakamoto, M; Kubota, M 

2004 

1 

NeuroToxicology
ISSN: 0161-813X
EISSN: 1872-9711 

4 

707-708 

English 

MeHg is one of the most risky substances which comes through fish consumption Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3), which is one of the most important fatty acids for normal brain development and function, is also derived from fish consumption. Our objective in this study was to examine the relationships between maternal mercury concentrations in red blood cells (RBC-Hg) and fetal plasma fatty acid composition. Venous blood samples were collected from forty-eight pairs of mothers and fetuses (umbilical cord blood). The differences in RBC-Hg concentrations between paired samples were determined by paired t-test. The associations between RBC-Hg and plasma fatty acid concentrations were studied by correlation analysis. In all 48 cases fetal RBC-Hg were higher than maternal RBC-Hg. The geometric mean of fetal RBC-Hg was 13.8 ng/g, which was significantly (p and lt;0.01) higher than that of maternal RBC-Hg (8.61 ng/g). While the average fetal/maternal RBC-Hg ratio was 1.6, the individual ratio varied 1.08 - 2.32, suggesting considerable individual differences in MeHg transfer from mothers to fetuses through the placenta. A significant correlation was observed between maternal and fetal DHA concentrations (p and lt;0.05, r = 0.39). Further, a significant correlation was observed between maternal RBC-Hg fetal plasma DHA (p and lt;0.05, r = 0.34). These results confirm that both MeHg and DHA which originated from fish consumption transferred from maternal to fetal circulation. Fish consumption poses both risk and benefit for people from the standpoint of MeHg and n-3 PUFA. Pregnant women in particular would do well to at least consume smaller fish, thereby balancing the risk and benefit from fish consumption. Keywords: fish consumption, methylmercury, n-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids.