| Document ID (ISN) | 104597 |
| CIS number |
06-114 |
| ISSN - Serial title |
1076-2752 - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine |
| Year |
2003 |
| Convention or series no. |
|
| Author(s) |
Counter S.A. |
| Title |
Neurophysiological anomalies in brainstem responses of mercury-exposed children of Andean gold miners |
| Bibliographic information |
Jan. 2003, Vol.45, No.1, p.87-95. Illus. 37 ref. |
| Abstract |
Brainstem auditory-evoked responses (BAER) were measured as biomarkers of mercury-induced neurological impairment in children of Andean gold miners living in the Ecuadorian gold mining settlement of Nambija, where mercury (Hg) exposure is prevalent. Thirty-one children in the study group were found to have a mean blood mercury (HgB) level of 23.0µg/L, which was significantly higher than the mean HgB level of a reference group of 21 Ecuadorian children (4.5µg/L) and in excess of the health-based biological limits for the U.S. (10µg/L). Brainstem neural conduction times suggested that some of the Hg-intoxicated children in the study group have subtle neuro-physiological anomalies that may be more manifest at higher BAER stimulus rates, and that the Hg-exposed children of gold miners are at risk for neuro-developmental disabilities. |
| Descriptors (primary) |
neurotoxic effects; children; gold mining; mercury and compounds; Ecuador |
| Descriptors (secondary) |
mercury; determination in blood; nervous conduction; case-control study |
| Document type |
D - Periodical articles |
| Country / State or Province | USA |
| Subject(s) |
Mines and quarries
Toxic and dangerous substances
|
| Broad subject area(s) |
Chemical safety
|
| Browse category(ies) |
Inorganic substances
Diseases of the nervous system
Mining and quarrying
Mercury and compounds
|
