Journal
ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Volume 70, Issue 5, Pages 297-302Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/19338244.2014.904268
Keywords
environmental pollution; food contamination; methylmercury compounds; Minamata disease; neurocognitive evaluations; prenatal exposure delayed effects
Funding
- Okayama Medical Foundation
- Sumitomo Foundation
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [26860417, 15H03422] Funding Source: KAKEN
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A large-scale food poisoning caused by methylmercury was identified in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s. The severe intrauterine exposure cases are well known, although the possible impact of low-to-moderate methylmercury exposure in utero are rarely investigated. We examined neurocognitive functions among 22 participants in Minamata, mainly using an intelligence quotient test (Wechsler Adults Intelligent Scale III), in 2012/2013. The participants tended to score low on the Index score of processing speed (PS) relative to full-scale IQ, and discrepancies between PS and other scores within each participant were observed. The lower score on PS was due to deficits in digit symbol-coding and symbol search and was associated with methylmercury concentration in umbilical cords. The residents who experienced low-to-moderate methylmercury exposure including prenatal one in Minamata manifested deficits in their cognitive functions, processing speed in particular.
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