Mercury in hair as an indicator of total body burden.

Hair is known to concentrate mercury, and in general the concentration of mercury in hair is proportional to and many times higher than its concentration in the blood. The variation of the mercury concentration in human head hair was used to follow the history of poisoning in people who ingested grain treated with methylmercury. Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for mercury determination. The initial rising slope of mercury concentration along the hair was proportional to the daily intake of methylmercury per kg of body weight. The ratio of the concentration of methylmercury in human head hair to the average body concentration was found to be about 137. By using this ratio and measuring mercury concentration in hair, the total body burden can be calculated. In the patients studied, the peak body burden ranged from 0.8 to 4.4 mg/kg in cases showing mild symptoms, from 1.5 to 6 mg/kg in cases with moderate symptoms, and from 3 to 12 mg/kg in cases with severe symptoms. The curve of the variation in mercury concentrations along the hair was also used to calculate the biological half-life of methylmercury in man. Forty-eight cases were studied and it was found that the frequency curve (population distribution curve) was grouped into two distinct regions. In about 90% of the population the biological half-life of methylmercury was 35-100 days, and 10% showed high values of 110-120 days.

Indirect sources of mercury poisoning in the Iraqi epidemic.

Secondary sources of intoxication with methylmercury poisoning other than home-made bread were explored. Mercury levels in various food items were below 0.05 mg/kg.Over 30 000 specimens of meat and internal organs of sheep were analysed because of the strong suspicion that the animals had been fed treated barley. It was found that 6-12% of the specimens analysed contained more than 0.5 mg/kg of mercury. Consumption of meat did not appear to constitute a danger of intoxication during the outbreak.