IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i15p7940-d602463.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Risk Assessment of Mercury Exposure from Fish Consumption in Munduruku Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Amazon

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos

    (Laboratory of Professional Education in Health Surveillance, Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

  • Gustavo Hallwass

    (Laboratory of Human Ecology, Fish, Fisheries and Conservation, Postgraduate Program in Biosciences, Federal University of West Para, 68270-000 Oriximiná, Brazil)

  • Jaqueline Gato Bezerra

    (Laboratory of Human Ecology, Fish, Fisheries and Conservation, Postgraduate Program in Biosciences, Federal University of West Para, 68270-000 Oriximiná, Brazil)

  • Angélico Nonato Serrão Aciole

    (Laboratory of Human Ecology, Fish, Fisheries and Conservation, Postgraduate Program in Biosciences, Federal University of West Para, 68270-000 Oriximiná, Brazil)

  • Heloisa Nascimento de Moura Meneses

    (Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology, Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of West Para, 68040-470 Santarém, Brazil)

  • Marcelo de Oliveira Lima

    (Environment Section, Evandro Chagas Institute, Health Surveillance Secretariat, Ministry of Health, 67030-000 Ananindeua, Brazil)

  • Iracina Maura de Jesus

    (Environment Section, Evandro Chagas Institute, Health Surveillance Secretariat, Ministry of Health, 67030-000 Ananindeua, Brazil)

  • Sandra de Souza Hacon

    (Samuel Pessoa Department of Endemics, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 21041-210 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

  • Paulo Cesar Basta

    (Samuel Pessoa Department of Endemics, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 21041-210 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Abstract

Fish serves as the principal source of animal protein for the indigenous people of the Amazon, ensuring their food and nutritional security. However, gold mining causes mercury (Hg) contamination in fish, and consequently increases health risks associated with fish consumption. The aim of this study was to assess the health risk attributed to the consumption of mercury-contaminated fish by Munduruku indigenous communities in the Middle-Tapajós Region. Different fish species were collected in the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land to determine mercury levels. The health risk assessment was carried out according to the World Health Organization (WHO 2008) methodology and different scenarios were built for counterfactual analysis. Eighty-eight fish specimens from 17 species and four trophic levels were analyzed. Estimates of Hg ingestion indicated that the methylmercury daily intake exceeds the U.S. EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) (2000) reference dose from 3 to 25-fold, and up to 11 times the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)/WHO (2003) dose recommendation. In all situations analyzed, the risk ratio estimates were above 1.0, meaning that the investigated Munduruku communities are at serious risk of harm as a result of ingestion of mercury-contaminated fish. These results indicate that, at present, fish consumption is not safe for this Munduruku population. This hazardous situation threatens the survival of this indigenous population, their food security, and their culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Gustavo Hallwass & Jaqueline Gato Bezerra & Angélico Nonato Serrão Aciole & Heloisa Nascimento de Moura Meneses & Marcelo de Oliveira Lima & Iracina Maura de Jes, 2021. "Health Risk Assessment of Mercury Exposure from Fish Consumption in Munduruku Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:7940-:d:602463
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7940/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7940/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christina C. Hicks & Philippa J. Cohen & Nicholas A. J. Graham & Kirsty L. Nash & Edward H. Allison & Coralie D’Lima & David J. Mills & Matthew Roscher & Shakuntala H. Thilsted & Andrew L. Thorne-Lyma, 2019. "Harnessing global fisheries to tackle micronutrient deficiencies," Nature, Nature, vol. 574(7776), pages 95-98, October.
    2. Kenny S. Grump & Tord Kjellström & Annette M. Shipp & Abraham Silvers & Alistair Stewart, 1998. "Influence of Prenatal Mercury Exposure Upon Scholastic and Psychologica Test Performance: Benchmark Analysis of a New Zealand Cohort," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(6), pages 701-713, December.
    3. Paulo Cesar Basta & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & André Reynaldo Santos Périssé & Cristina Barroso Hofer & Natalia Santana Paiva & Joseph William Kempton & Danie, 2021. "Mercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Communities from Brazilian Amazon: Methodological Background and an Overview of the Principal Results," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-32, September.
    4. Nathália Santos Serrão de Castro & Marcelo De Oliveira Lima, 2018. "Hair as a Biomarker of Long Term Mercury Exposure in Brazilian Amazon: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rogério Adas Ayres de Oliveira & Bruna Duarte Pinto & Bruno Hojo Rebouças & Daniel Ciampi de Andrade & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Paulo Cesar Basta, 2021. "Neurological Impacts of Chronic Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Adults: Somatosensory, Motor, and Cognitive Abnormalities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Paulo Cesar Basta & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & André Reynaldo Santos Périssé & Cristina Barroso Hofer & Natalia Santana Paiva & Joseph William Kempton & Danie, 2021. "Mercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Communities from Brazilian Amazon: Methodological Background and an Overview of the Principal Results," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-32, September.
    3. Heloisa do Nascimento de Moura Meneses & Marcelo Oliveira-da-Costa & Paulo Cesar Basta & Cristiano Gonçalves Morais & Romulo Jorge Batista Pereira & Suelen Maria Santos de Souza & Sandra de Souza Haco, 2022. "Mercury Contamination: A Growing Threat to Riverine and Urban Communities in the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-12, February.
    4. Adriano Teixeira de Oliveira & Paloma de Almeida Rodrigues & Alexandre Mendes Ramos Filho & Maria Fernanda da Silva Gomes & Ariany Rabello da Silva Liebl & Júlia Vianna de Pinho & Paulo Henrique Rocha, 2023. "Levels of Total Mercury and Health Risk Assessment of Consuming Freshwater Stingrays (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygoninae) of the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(21), pages 1-12, October.
    5. Leonardo Barcellos de Bakker & Pedro Gasparinetti & Júlia Mello de Queiroz & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos, 2021. "Economic Impacts on Human Health Resulting from the Use of Mercury in the Illegal Gold Mining in the Brazilian Amazon: A Methodological Assessment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-26, November.
    6. Joeseph William Kempton & André Reynaldo Santos Périssé & Cristina Barroso Hofer & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Marcelo de Oliveira Lima & Iracina Maura de Jesu, 2021. "An Assessment of Health Outcomes and Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Women of Childbearing Age and Their Children under 2 Years Old," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-23, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paulo Cesar Basta & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & André Reynaldo Santos Périssé & Cristina Barroso Hofer & Natalia Santana Paiva & Joseph William Kempton & Danie, 2021. "Mercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Communities from Brazilian Amazon: Methodological Background and an Overview of the Principal Results," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-32, September.
    2. Leonardo Barcellos de Bakker & Pedro Gasparinetti & Júlia Mello de Queiroz & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos, 2021. "Economic Impacts on Human Health Resulting from the Use of Mercury in the Illegal Gold Mining in the Brazilian Amazon: A Methodological Assessment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-26, November.
    3. Joeseph William Kempton & André Reynaldo Santos Périssé & Cristina Barroso Hofer & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Marcelo de Oliveira Lima & Iracina Maura de Jesu, 2021. "An Assessment of Health Outcomes and Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Women of Childbearing Age and Their Children under 2 Years Old," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Rafaela Waddington Achatz & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Lucia Pereira & Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana & Paulo Cesar Basta, 2021. "Impacts of the Goldmining and Chronic Methylmercury Exposure on the Good-Living and Mental Health of Munduruku Native Communities in the Amazon Basin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Jamila Alessandra Perini & Mayara Calixto Silva & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Paulo Victor Sousa Viana & Marcelo Oliveira Lima & Iracina Maura Jesus & Joseph William Kempton & Rogério Adas , 2021. "Genetic Polymorphism of Delta Aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase ( ALAD ) Gene and Symptoms of Chronic Mercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Children within the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Kira Lancker & Julia Bronnmann, 2022. "Substitution Preferences for Fish in Senegal," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 1015-1045, August.
    7. Rogério Adas Ayres de Oliveira & Bruna Duarte Pinto & Bruno Hojo Rebouças & Daniel Ciampi de Andrade & Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos & Paulo Cesar Basta, 2021. "Neurological Impacts of Chronic Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Adults: Somatosensory, Motor, and Cognitive Abnormalities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-20, September.
    8. Lancker, Kira & Bronmann, Julia, 2020. "Quantifying consumers’ love for marine biodiversity," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304214, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Gang Wang & Yu Gong & Yi-Xin Zhu & Ai-Jun Miao & Liu-Yan Yang & Huan Zhong, 2017. "Assessing the Risk of Hg Exposure Associated with Rice Consumption in a Typical City (Suzhou) in Eastern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-11, May.
    10. Oarabile Mogobe & Nashaat M. Mazrui & Mangaliso J. Gondwe & Ketlhatlogile Mosepele & Wellington R. L. Masamba, 2024. "Nutrient composition of common fish species in the Okavango Delta: potential contribution to nutrition security," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 19731-19753, August.
    11. Alycia K. Silman & Raveena Chhabria & George W. Hafzalla & Leahanne Giffin & Kimberly Kucharski & Katherine Myers & Carlos Culquichicón & Stephanie Montero & Andres G. Lescano & Claudia M. Vega & Luis, 2022. "Impairment in Working Memory and Executive Function Associated with Mercury Exposure in Indigenous Populations in Upper Amazonian Peru," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-25, September.
    12. Wallner-Hahn, Sieglind & Dahlgren, Malin & de la Torre-Castro, Maricela, 2022. "Linking seagrass ecosystem services to food security: The example of southwestern Madagascar’s small-scale fisheries," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. Alfred K. Mbah & Ibrahim Hamisu & Eknath Naik & Hamisu M. Salihu, 2014. "Estimating Benchmark Exposure for Air Particulate Matter Using Latent Class Models," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(11), pages 2053-2062, November.
    14. Chakraborty, Shamik & Gasparatos, Alexandros & Blasiak, Robert, 2020. "Multiple values for the management and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    15. Alvin Slewion Jueseah & Dadi Mar Kristofersson & Tumi Tómasson & Ogmundur Knutsson, 2020. "A Bio-Economic Analysis of the Liberian Coastal Fisheries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, November.
    16. Farmery, Anna K. & Kajlich, Lana & Voyer, Michelle & Bogard, Jessica R. & Duarte, Augustinha, 2020. "Integrating fisheries, food and nutrition – Insights from people and policies in Timor-Leste," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Rasolofoson, Ranaivo A. & Milner, Erin M. & Mattah, Brian J. & Brashares, Justin S. & Fernald, Lia H. & Fiorella, Kathryn J., 2025. "Fishery access benefits early childhood development through fish consumption and fishing income pathways," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    18. Miwako Dakeishi & Katsuyuki Murata & Akiko Tamura & Toyoto Iwata, 2006. "Relation Between Benchmark Dose and No‐Observed‐Adverse‐Effect Level in Clinical Research: Effects of Daily Alcohol Intake on Blood Pressure in Japanese Salesmen," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 115-123, February.
    19. Heloisa do Nascimento de Moura Meneses & Marcelo Oliveira-da-Costa & Paulo Cesar Basta & Cristiano Gonçalves Morais & Romulo Jorge Batista Pereira & Suelen Maria Santos de Souza & Sandra de Souza Haco, 2022. "Mercury Contamination: A Growing Threat to Riverine and Urban Communities in the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-12, February.
    20. Mark E. Capron & Jim R. Stewart & Antoine de Ramon N’Yeurt & Michael D. Chambers & Jang K. Kim & Charles Yarish & Anthony T. Jones & Reginald B. Blaylock & Scott C. James & Rae Fuhrman & Martin T. She, 2020. "Restoring Pre-Industrial CO 2 Levels While Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-30, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:7940-:d:602463. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.