Neurodevelopmental investigations among methylmercury-exposed children in French Guiana
Neurodevelopmental investigations among methylmercury-exposed children in French Guiana
复制标题
DOI：
10.1006/enrs.2002.4349
复制
发表时间：
2002-05-01
影响因子：
8.3
通讯作者：
Amiel-Tison, C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cordier, S;Garel, M;Amiel-Tison, C
与邻国一样，法属圭亚那也受到金矿开采活动产生的甲基汞对环境的污染，美洲印第安人社区受到的影响尤为严重。对三个污染程度不同的美洲印第安人社区的儿童进行了神经学和神经心理评估：来自上马罗尼的156名儿童(高暴露)，来自奥亚伯克河的卡莫皮的69名儿童(中等暴露)，以及来自大西洋海岸阿瓦拉的153名儿童(低暴露)。甲基汞的暴露量是通过测定儿童及其母亲头发中的总汞(几何平均值，上马罗尼为12.7微克/克)来衡量的。在接受检查的儿童中，没有观察到主要的神经体征。在调整了潜在的混杂因素后，我们发现母亲的头发汞水平与深层肌腱反射增加、腿部协调性较差以及斯坦福-比奈复制分数(衡量视觉空间组织的表现)之间存在剂量依赖关系。在最后一次测试中，5-6岁年龄组的旋转错误频率很高，并且随着汞暴露的增加而增加。这些联系取决于孩子的性别，在男孩中更强。对这些结果的解释主要受到研究横断面设计的限制。它确定了特定的神经和神经心理缺陷，在某些情况下受到性别的调节，这与汞神经毒性的已知目标一致。(C)2002年埃尔塞维尔科学公司(美国)。
French Guiana, like its neighbors, suffers from environmental pollution with methylmercury from gold mining activities, and Amerindian communities are particularly affected. A neurological and a neurospsychological evaluation were carried out in children of three Amerindian communities with various levels of pollution: 156 children from the Upper Maroni (high exposure), 69 from Camopi on the Oyapock river (median exposure), and 153 from Awala on the Atlantic coast (low exposure). Exposure to methylmercury was measured by determination of total mercury in the hair of the children and their mothers (geometric mean, 12.7 mug/g in Upper Maroni). No major neurologic signs were observed in the children examined. After adjustment for potential confounders, we found a dose-dependent association between maternal hair mercury level and increased deep tendon reflexes, poorer coordination of the legs, and decreased performance in the Stanford-Binet Copying score, which measures visuospatial organization. In this last test, the frequency of rotation errors was high in the 5-6 years age group and increased with mercury exposure. These associations depended on the sex of child and were stronger among boys. The interpretation of these results is limited mainly by the cross-sectional design of the study. It identifies specific neurological and neuropsychological deficits, in some cases modulated by sex, which are consistent with known targets of mercury neurotoxicity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).