%0 Journal Article
%T Chronologically matched toenail-Hg to hair-Hg ratio: temporal analysis within the Japanese community (U.S.)
%A Thomas Hinners
%A Ami Tsuchiya
%A Alan H Stern
%A Thomas M Burbacher
%A Elaine M Faustman
%A Koenraad Mari£¿n
%J Environmental Health
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-069x-11-81
%X As part of the Arsenic Mercury Intake Biometric Study, toenail clippings were collected at three time points over a period of one year amongst females from within the population of Japanese living near Puget Sound in Washington State (US). Variability in temporal intra-individual toenail-Hg levels was examined and chronologically matched hair and toenail samples were compared to more accurately define the toxicokinetic variability of Hg levels observed between the two compartments.Mean toenail-Hg values (n=43) for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd visits were 0.60, 0.60 and 0.56 ng/mg. Correlations were as follows: r=0.92 between 1st and 2nd clinic visits, r=0.75 between 1st and 3rd visits and r=0.87 between 2nd and 3rd visits. With few exceptions, toenail-Hg values from any visit were within 50-150% of the individual¡¯s mean toenail-Hg level. Nearly all participants had less than a two-fold change in toenail-Hg levels across the study period. A regression model of the relationship between toenail-Hg and hair-Hg (n = 41) levels representing the same time period of exposure, gave a slope (Hg ng/mg) of 2.79 for hair relative to toenail (r=0.954).A chronologically matched hair-Hg to toenail-Hg ratio has been identified within a population that consumes fish regularly and in quantity. Intra-individual variation in toenail-Hg levels was less than two-fold and may represent dietary-based fluctuations in body burden for individuals consuming various fish species with different contaminant levels. The chronologically matched ratio will be useful for relating MeHg exposure and dose¨Cresponse derived from toenail-Hg measurements to those derived from hair-Hg measurements in other studies, and may be useful in future investigations as an indicator of stable MeHg body burden within a population.As most human exposures to methylmercury (MeHg) result from fish consumption, federal and state consumption advisories have been released as a public health protective measure [1,2]. Most state and fed
%K Mercury
%K Methylmercury
%K Cardiovascular
%K Hair
%K Toenail
%K Chronological
%K Biomarker
%U http://www.ehjournal.net/content/11/1/81