| Title |
Seafood Consumption and Blood Mercury Concentrations in Jamaican Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Neurotoxicity Research, April 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s12640-012-9321-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Mohammad H. Rahbar, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Katherine A. Loveland, Manouchehr Ardjomand-Hessabi, Zhongxue Chen, Jan Bressler, Sydonnie Shakespeare-Pellington, Megan L. Grove, Kari Bloom, Deborah A. Pearson, Gerald C. Lalor, Eric Boerwinkle |
| Abstract |
Mercury is a toxic metal shown to have harmful effects on human health. Several studies have reported high blood mercury concentrations as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), while other studies have reported no such association. The goal of this study was to investigate the association between blood mercury concentrations in children and ASDs. Moreover, we investigated the role of seafood consumption in relation to blood mercury concentrations in Jamaican children. Based on data for 65 sex- and age-matched pairs (2-8 years), we used a General Linear Model to test whether there is an association between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. After controlling for the child's frequency of seafood consumption, maternal age, and parental education, we did not find a significant difference (P = 0.61) between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. However, in both cases and control groups, children who ate certain types of seafood (i.e., salt water fish, sardine, or mackerel fish) had significantly higher (all P < 0.05) geometric means blood mercury concentration which were about 3.5 times that of children living in the US or Canada. Our findings also indicate that Jamaican children with parents who both had education up to high school are at a higher risk of exposure to mercury compared to children with at least one parent who had education beyond high school. Based on our findings, we recommend additional education to Jamaican parents regarding potential hazards of elevated blood mercury concentrations, and its association with seafood consumption and type of seafood. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 33% |
| United States | 1 | 17% |
| Belgium | 1 | 17% |
| Germany | 1 | 17% |
| Unknown | 1 | 17% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 4 | 67% |
| Scientists | 1 | 17% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 17% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 108 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 2% |
| Spain | 1 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 104 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 15 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 14 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 10 | 9% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 8 | 7% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 7 | 6% |
| Other | 30 | 28% |
| Unknown | 24 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 24 | 22% |
| Psychology | 15 | 14% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 9 | 8% |
| Environmental Science | 8 | 7% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 4% |
| Other | 19 | 18% |
| Unknown | 29 | 27% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 17. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 June 2023.
All research outputs
#2,139,570
of 25,654,806 outputs
Outputs from Neurotoxicity Research
#42
of 931 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#12,380
of 174,551 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Neurotoxicity Research
#1
of 4 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,654,806 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 91st percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 931 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
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