Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 417, Issue -, Pages 291-293Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.11.076
Keywords
Cardiovascular diseases; Hypertension; Methylmercury compounds; Minamata disease; Myocardial infarction
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Recent studies suggest potential adverse effects of methylmercury exposure on myocardial infarction and hypertension, although the evidence is still limited. We thus evaluated this association using age-standardized mortality ratios (ASMRs) in Minamata, where severe methylmercury poisoning had occurred. We obtained mortality data from annual vital statistics and demographic statistics from census. We then compared mortality of atherosclerotic heart disease including degenerative heart disease and hypertension in Minamatacity with those in Kumamoto Prefecture, which includes Minamata city, as a control. We estimated ASMRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) during the period from 1953 to 1970. ASMRs of atherosclerotic heart disease were continuously decreased during the period from 1953 to 1967. In contrast, the ASMR of hypertension was significantly elevated during the period from 1963 to 1967 (SMR= 1.38, CI; 1.06-1.80); but they decreased later. Although dilution is present in this ecological study, our study supports the notion that methylmercury exposure induces hypertension. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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