Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption
Eighty samples of hair from women of child-bearing age from Nome, Alaska, and seven control samples from women living in Sequim, Washington, were analyzed for mercury concentration by segmental analysis in an effort to determine whether seasonal fluctuations in mercury concentration in the hair samp...
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ftosti:oai:osti.gov:7159305 2023-07-30T04:05:04+02:00 Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption Lasorsa, B. ) 2008-06-30 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7159305 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7159305 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7159305 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7159305 63 RADIATION THERMAL AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT. MERCURY ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION ALASKA DIET HAIR MAN SEASONAL VARIATIONS WOMEN ANIMALS BODY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ELEMENTS FEMALES MAMMALS METALS NORTH AMERICA ORGANS PRIMATES SKIN USA VARIATIONS VERTEBRATES 2008 ftosti 2023-07-11T10:54:34Z Eighty samples of hair from women of child-bearing age from Nome, Alaska, and seven control samples from women living in Sequim, Washington, were analyzed for mercury concentration by segmental analysis in an effort to determine whether seasonal fluctuations in mercury concentration in the hair samples can be correlated to seasonal seafood consumption. Full-length hair strands were analyzed in 1.1-cm segments representing 1 month's growth using a strong acid digestion and cold vapor atomic fluorescence analysis. It was assumed that the concentration of mercury in each segment is an indicator of the mercury body burden during the month in which the segment emerged from the scalp. Eighteen of the samples show seasonal variability, with five of the controls and one Nome resident showing winter highs while all Nome residents show summer highs. Twenty-six of the samples show an increase in mercury concentration toward the distal end of the strand regardless of month of growth. The trend of increasing mercury concentrations toward the distal end of the hair strand regardless of month of emergence, and the documented presence of elevated levels of elemental mercury in the Nome area suggest that these elevated levels may actually be due to external contamination of the hair strands by adsorption and not due to ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs such as seafood. Other/Unknown Material Nome Alaska SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
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SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
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63 RADIATION THERMAL AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT. MERCURY ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION ALASKA DIET HAIR MAN SEASONAL VARIATIONS WOMEN ANIMALS BODY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ELEMENTS FEMALES MAMMALS METALS NORTH AMERICA ORGANS PRIMATES SKIN USA VARIATIONS VERTEBRATES |
spellingShingle |
63 RADIATION THERMAL AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT. MERCURY ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION ALASKA DIET HAIR MAN SEASONAL VARIATIONS WOMEN ANIMALS BODY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ELEMENTS FEMALES MAMMALS METALS NORTH AMERICA ORGANS PRIMATES SKIN USA VARIATIONS VERTEBRATES Lasorsa, B. ) Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
topic_facet |
63 RADIATION THERMAL AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT. MERCURY ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION ALASKA DIET HAIR MAN SEASONAL VARIATIONS WOMEN ANIMALS BODY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ELEMENTS FEMALES MAMMALS METALS NORTH AMERICA ORGANS PRIMATES SKIN USA VARIATIONS VERTEBRATES |
description |
Eighty samples of hair from women of child-bearing age from Nome, Alaska, and seven control samples from women living in Sequim, Washington, were analyzed for mercury concentration by segmental analysis in an effort to determine whether seasonal fluctuations in mercury concentration in the hair samples can be correlated to seasonal seafood consumption. Full-length hair strands were analyzed in 1.1-cm segments representing 1 month's growth using a strong acid digestion and cold vapor atomic fluorescence analysis. It was assumed that the concentration of mercury in each segment is an indicator of the mercury body burden during the month in which the segment emerged from the scalp. Eighteen of the samples show seasonal variability, with five of the controls and one Nome resident showing winter highs while all Nome residents show summer highs. Twenty-six of the samples show an increase in mercury concentration toward the distal end of the strand regardless of month of growth. The trend of increasing mercury concentrations toward the distal end of the hair strand regardless of month of emergence, and the documented presence of elevated levels of elemental mercury in the Nome area suggest that these elevated levels may actually be due to external contamination of the hair strands by adsorption and not due to ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs such as seafood. |
author |
Lasorsa, B. ) |
author_facet |
Lasorsa, B. ) |
author_sort |
Lasorsa, B. ) |
title |
Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
title_short |
Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
title_full |
Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
title_fullStr |
Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
title_sort |
trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of nome, alaska - evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7159305 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7159305 |
genre |
Nome Alaska |
genre_facet |
Nome Alaska |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7159305 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7159305 |
_version_ |
1772816773264965632 |