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Neurodevelopment, low level mercury exposure and genetic polymorphisms in a birth cohort from Slovenia and Croatia 8th International Conference on Children's Heralth and the Environment, [COBISS.SI-ID 29762343]

Objective: To investigate methyl mercury (MeHg) exposure, effects, and susceptibility in the Mediterranean population in early life. Methods: PHIME was the largest study ever conducted in the general European population on the impact of mercury through food consumption. It included 1700 mother–child pairs from Italy, Slovenia, Greece and Croatia. Mother’s hair, cord blood, cord tissue and meconium have been sampled at birth, breast milk and mother’s hair 1 month after birth. Hair samples have been analysed for mercury, cord blood and breast milk for mercury (and MeHg), cadmium, lead and arsenic, as well as for essential elements (selenium, zinc, copper). Children were tested for neurodevelopment (Bayley III test) at 18 months of age. In order to observe gene-environment interactions, the glutathione S-transferase class-theta1 (GSTT1) and -mu1 (GSTM1) gene deletion variants were studied in a subset of participating women.

File S1. Agenda of the expert meeting on December 14, 2012, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. File S2. List of references used in the presentation Chronic Hg intoxication in Idrija Mercury Mine. File S3. Fields of research of the meeting participants. File S4. Interview questions. File S5. Complete list of body systems affected, symptoms, synonymous terms, and the decision whether to include or exclude in the disease profiles. (PDF 192 kb)

Elemental Mercury Exposure and Sleep Disorder

Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is part of a broader spectrum of developmental disorders appearing in early childhood, known as pervasive developmental disorders. Although its etiology is not yet known today, genetic, immunological and environmental factors are considered relevant for the development of autism. Among the latter, there is also a mercury poisoningthough opinions regarding its influence are divided. Some results obtained in recent times reject, while other support the hypothesis that ethyl-Hg in thimerosal, which is used in childrenćs vaccines, influences the development of ASD. Some studies that point to metabolic disorders caused by certain amino acids, oxidative stress and immunological disorders in children with ASD are presented. In addition, some basic findings on the retention, toxicokinetics and biological mechanisms of Hg activity that could influence the development of ASD. Conclusions The presented studies support the assumption that in children with specific metabolic disorders caused by amino acids that reduce glutathione content in cells, and immunological disorders, ethyl-Hg in thimerosal may enhance oxidative impairment in astrocytes and neurons, affect immunological response, and disturb the glutaminergic, serotonergic, holinergic and the central dopaminergic activity. In children with increased susceptibility to Hg, thimerosal in vaccines may be a significant factor in the pathogenesis of ASD. Izhodišča Spektroavtistična motnja (SAM) je del širšega spektra razvojnih motenj, znanih kot pervazivne razvojne motnje, ki se pojavijo v zgodnjem otroštvu. Danes etiologija še ni poznana, znano pa je, da so za razvoj avtizmapomembni genetski, imunski in okoljski dejavniki. Med okoljske dejavnike sodi tudi živo srebro (Hg), vendar so mnenja o tem deljena. Nekaterirezultati iz zadnjega obdobja zanikajo, drugi pa podpirajo hipotezo o vplivu etil-Hg v timerosalu v otroških cepivih na razvoj SAM. Na kratko bom predstavil nekatere raziskave, ki pri otrocih s SAM opozarjajo na presnovne motnje določenih aminokislin, oksidativni stres in imunske motnje. Obenem pa bom osvetlil tudi nekatera osnovna spoznanja o privzemu, toksikokinetiki in bioloških mehanizmih delovanja Hg, ki bi lahko vplivali na razvoj SAM. Zaključki Predstavljene raziskave podpirajo domnevo, da pri otrocih z določenimi presnovnimi motnjami aminokislin, ki povzročajo znižanje vsebnosti glutationa v celicah, in z imunskimi motnjami, lahko etil-Hg v timerosalu še dodatno povečuje oksidativno prizadetost astrocitov in nevronov, vpliva na imunsko odzivnost ter moti glutaminergično, serotonergično, holinergično in centralno dopaminergično aktivnost. Pri otrocih s povečano občutljivostjo na učinke Hg je timerosal v cepivih lahko pomemben dejavnik v patogenezi SAM.

Background Toxic mercury is still being used today for example by workers mining gold, resulting in diverse health symptoms in users and individuals in proximity. A considerable burden of disease (BoD) can be assumed, while previous analyses were limited by data scarcity. Besides limited epidemiological data, neither data about the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) nor about the disease severity (disability weight, DW) is available. The aim of the project was to develop disease profiles of chronic metallic mercury vapor intoxication (CMMVI) by including the HRQoL to improve the data basis for BoD analyses of gold miners exposed to mercury. Methods Disease profiles comprising the disease label [a], differentiation into disease stages [b], description of the cause of exposure [c], a list of common symptoms [d], and an assessment of the HRQoL [e] were developed using expert elicitation and literature search. The HRQoL was assessed by experts using the five EuroQol dimensions accompanied by the cognition add-on questionnaire (EQ-5D + C). Results The ten sources used for the analyses (interview transcript, presentation, and eight literature reviews) identified more than 250 terms describing 85 distinguishable health effects of CMMVI. The analysis revealed 29 common symptoms that were frequently mentioned. Moderate and severe CMMVI cases differ regarding their symptoms and/or symptom severity and HRQoL, resulting in the EQ-5D + C-3L codes 121222 and 233333, respectively. Conclusions The profiles should be used to facilitate the ascertainment of CMMVI cases, to compare the HRQoL with other diseases, to derive DWs for improving BoD estimates, and to foster discussions about how to reduce the associated burden. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12955-015-0388-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.