Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Oct;115(10):1435-41.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.10056.

A biomonitoring study of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the blood of New York city adults

Wendy McKelvey  1 , R Charon Gwynn, Nancy Jeffery, Daniel Kass, Lorna E Thorpe, Renu K Garg, Christopher D Palmer, Patrick J Parsons
Affiliations

A biomonitoring study of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the blood of New York city adults

Wendy McKelvey et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Oct.

Erratum in

Abstract

Objectives: We assessed the extent of exposure to lead, cadmium, and mercury in the New York City (NYC) adult population.

Methods: We measured blood metal concentrations in a representative sample of 1,811 NYC residents as part of the NYC Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2004.

Results: The geometric mean blood mercury concentration was 2.73 microg/L [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.58-2.89]; blood lead concentration was 1.79 microg/dL (95% CI, 1.73-1.86); and blood cadmium concentration was 0.77 microg/L (95% CI, 0.75-0.80). Mercury levels were more than three times that of national levels. An estimated 24.8% (95% CI, 22.2-27.7%) of the NYC adult population had blood mercury concentration at or above the 5 microg/L New York State reportable level. Across racial/ethnic groups, the NYC Asian population, and the foreign-born Chinese in particular, had the highest concentrations of all three metals. Mercury levels were elevated 39% in the highest relative to the lowest income group (95% CI, 21-58%). Blood mercury concentrations in adults who reported consuming fish or shellfish 20 times or more in the last 30 days were 3.7 times the levels in those who reported no consumption (95% CI, 3.0-4.6); frequency of consumption explained some of the elevation in Asians and other subgroups.

Conclusions: Higher than national blood mercury exposure in NYC adults indicates a need to educate New Yorkers about how to choose fish and seafood to maximize health benefits while minimizing potential risks from exposure to mercury. Local biomonitoring can provide valuable information about environmental exposures.

Keywords: NYC HANES; biomonitoring; blood; cadmium; fish; lead; mercury; methylmercury; seafood; survey.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Geometric mean and 95% CI for blood lead, cadmium and mercury concentrations in adults residing in NYC compared with the United States overall, NYC HANES 2004, and NHANES 1999–2002 (CDC 2005a).a
aBlood mercury comparison for women age 16–49 years (NHANES) and 20–49 years (NYC HANES).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Åkesson A, Bjellerup P, Lundh T, Lidfeldt J, Nerbrand C, Samsioe G, et al. Cadmium-induced effects on bone in a population-based study of women. Environ Health Perspect. 2006;114:830–834. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alfven T, Elinder CG, Carlsson MD, Grubb A, Hellstrom L, Persson B, et al. Low-level cadmium exposure and osteoporosis. J Bone Miner Res. 2000;15(8):1579–1586. - PubMed
    1. Andrews KW, Savitz DA, Hertz-Picciotto I. Prenatal lead exposure in relation to gestational age and birth weight: a review of epidemiologic studies. Am J Ind Med. 1994;26:13–32. - PubMed
    1. Annest JL, Pirkle JL, Makuc D, Neese JW, Bayse DD, Kovar MG. Chronological trend in blood lead levels between 1976 and 1980. N Engl J Med. 1983;308(23):1373–1377. - PubMed
    1. Ask K, Åkesson A, Berglund M, Vahter M. Inorganic mercury and methylmercury in placentas of Swedish women. Environ Health Perspect. 2002;110:523–526. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms