Study on health effect of the highly-concentrated methylmercury exposure derived from a cetacean

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23390168
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Hygiene
• Research Institution: National Institute for Minamata Disease
• Principal Investigator: NAKAMURA Masaaki 国立水俣病総合研究センター, その他部局等, その他 (50399672)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAKAMOTO Mineshi 国立水俣病総合研究センター, 国際・総合研究部, 部長 (60344420) ; HACHIYA Noriyuki 国立水俣病総合研究センター, 疫学研究部, 室長 (90124643) ; MURATA Kenya 和歌山県立医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (90264853)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Keywords: 環境中毒 / クジラ / メチル水銀 / 健康影響

Research Abstract

We investigated the health effects of MeHg exposure in adults. The subjects were 194 residents who resided in Taiji, the birthplace of traditional whaling in Japan. The geometric mean of the hair mercury levels was 14.9 µg/g and hair mercury levels significantly correlated with daily whale meat intake, suggesting that Taiji residents were highly exposed to MeHg by ingesting whale meat. No significant correlations between hair mercury levels and neurological outcomes were observed. NAA/ Cr ratio of the sensory cortex and cerebellum was normal in the MR spectroscopy, suggesting that there was no apparent neuronal loss in these regions. A significantly positive correlation between whole blood mercury and Se levels was observed and the whole blood mercury/Se molar ratios of all subjects were

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Methylmercury exposure and neurological outcomes in Taiji residents accustomed to consuming whale meat (2014)
  • Author(s): Nakamura M, Hachiya N, Murata K, Nakanishi I, Kondo T, Yasutake A, Miyamoto KI, Ser PH, Omi S, Furusawa H, Watanabe C, Usuki F, Sakamoto M
  • Journal Title: Environ Int Volume: 68C Pages: 25-32
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.03.005
• [Presentation] Methylmercury exposure and neurological outcomes in Taiji, the birthplace of traditional whaling in Japan (2013)
  • Author(s): Nakamura M, Murata K, Nakanishi I, Yasutake A, Hachiya N, Miyamoto K, Sakamoto M, Usuki F, Kondo T
  • Organizer: The 11th International Conferenceon Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)
  • Place of Presentation: Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Year and Date: 20130800
• [Remarks]
  • URL: http://www.nimd.go.jp/kenkyu/ronbun.html