ejustice 1.1 - MERCURY FOUND IN WOMEN HAIR IN PUTTALAM

MERCURY FOUND IN WOMEN HAIR IN PUTTALAM

Chalani Rubasinghe ( B. Sc, M.Sc)

The recent study on mercury in hair by CEJ involved revealed that the residents in the Norochcholai, Paniadiya, Narakkalliya and around the Puttalam town area vicinity to the lagoon has been exposed to Mercury at dangerous levels. 28 women between 18 to 44 years old that had no occupational Mercury exposure found to have Mercury in their hair above 1ppm, the level that United States National Research Council established as a “reference dose” in 2000 (U.S. EPA 2001). The highest level was 15.584 ppm. The study focused on the Mercury contamination through lagoon fish consumption. Hopefully connected to the fly ash from the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant.

Mercury in hair is an indicator of the environmental exposure to mercury. It can be coming from blood or exogenous sources (outside of the body) . There’s no correlation between the level of mercury in hair and blood or urine mercury levels. Separate testing should be conducted to measure the levels of mercury in blood and urine.

However, A study shows that if the methyl mercury concentration in a pregnant mother’s body is enough to increase the mercury level in hair by 1ppm, the respective decrease in the IQ of the child is 0.7 points. Out of the women participated, 17 from Norochcholei and 11 from Puttlum had mercury in hair exceeding the internationally recognized reference level of 1 ppm total mercury (THg), above which health effects to the developing foetus of pregnant women may occur . The age limit of the women is between 18 and 44.

The results indicate the concentration of total mercury in the hair and the exposure to mercury during the immediate past few months, as the average rate of hair growth is approximately 1 cm per month . There was no significant difference in the fish diet of women having elevated levels of Hg and below 1ppm of mercury. However some of them preferred eating sea fish. Women live closer to the lagoon consume the same set of fish species, sometimes several species cooked together. It is difficult to predict the toxicity due to mercury in the studied population without conducting a proper blood or urine test for mercury. Yet, it is clear that they are vulnerable to mercury contamination from the surrounding environment. Saving women in childbearing stage is very important as their babies could be impacted.

The solution to this problem is not for women to avoid eating fish but to stop emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plant and other industrial, agricultural sources.(END)