An evaluation of potential exposure to mercury in a community where elemental mercury is used for cultural purposes

Elemental mercury is used in a variety of superstitious and cultural practices. These practices involve intentional dispersal of mercury within residential buildings by individuals who believe this will provide some benefit or ward off harm but may represent an insidious source of mercury exposure.; As a first step in assessing this phenomenon, we compared mercury vapor concentration in common areas of residential buildings versus outdoor air in two New Jersey cities where mercury is available and used in cultural practices. Building on this initial assessment, we expanded the investigation in these cities, and included sites in Rockland County, NY, and a reference community where cultural mercury use is unlikely. These surveys are the first to evaluate the likelihood of elemental mercury exposure in a community from cultural use.; We measured mercury using a portable atomic absorption spectrometer. We found outdoor mercury vapor levels consistent with those previously reported for urban areas and noted no significant difference among communities. In all communities, mercury vapor levels within the common areas of the buildings were significantly greater than that outdoors. In communities with cultural mercury use, both peak and mean mercury vapor levels were significantly greater in residential building common areas than those in the reference community. We determined that cultural mercury use is a likely source of exposure for a small but noteworthy percentage of individuals in communities where there is such use.; Our air monitoring studies indirectly assessed potential exposure to mercury vapor, thus we evaluated the applicability of an alternative method of direct exposure assessment, biomonitoring of urinary mercury. This method is widely accepted to reflect elemental mercury exposure of workers, but its suitability for low-level non-occupational exposure is unclear. We analyzed biomonitoring and air sampling data collected from individuals and from their mercury-contaminated residences. We identified the expression of the urinary biomarker that best reflects mercury vapor exposure in this setting and estimated its efficacy at low exposure levels. Within appropriate limits, we determined urinary mercury to be a suitable biomonitoring tool of non-occupational exposure, including that from cultural mercury use.