| Neuropsychological and Stress Evaluation of a Residential Mercury Exposure Nancy Fiedler, Iris Udasin, Michael Gochfeld, Gail Buckler, Kathie Kelly-McNeil, and Howard Kipen UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855 USA Abstract
Residents of a former factory building converted to apartments were exposed to mercury over a 2-year period. The neurobehavioral and emotional health effects of this exposure and subsequent evacuation are presented. Urine mercury levels were measured before (urine1) and 3-10 weeks after evacuation (urine2) of the building, when neurobehavioral and psychological measures were also completed. Performance on neurobehavioral and psychologic measures were compared between subjects above and below the median for urine1 ( 19 µg/g creatinine) and were correlated with urine1 mercury levels. The high urine mercury group made more errors on a test of fine motor function and 84% of the residents reported clinically significant elevations in somatic and psychologic symptoms. Although subclinical tremor from mercury exposure may have affected subtle hand-eye coordination, other tests of motor function were not affected. Therefore, the observation of reduced hand-eye coordination may be due to chance. Significant levels of psychosocial stress were more closely associated with the evacuation necessitated by mercury exposure rather than a direct effect of mercury exposure. Key words: environmental exposure, mercury, neuropsychological, stress, urine mercury. Environ Health Perspect 107:343-347 (1999) . [Online 24 March 1999] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p343-347fiedler/ abstract.html Address correspondence to N. Fiedler, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08855 USA. We thank all the agencies and related staff for their consultation, assistance, and financial support. Drs. Bernard Goldstein and Pam Tucker provided valuable comments and information. We also very much appreciate the participation of the apartment residents. This project was funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Received 11 December 1998 ; accepted 8 February 1999.
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