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Jane M. Hightower,¹ Ann O'Hare,² German T. Hernandez³

¹Department of Internal Medicine, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA; ²Department of Medicine, Veterans's Administration and University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA; ³Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA

Abstract
Introduction: Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans are a potentially high-risk group for dietary exposure to methylmercury through fish consumption. However, blood mercury levels in this group have not been identified in recent reports of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1999-2002.

Methods: We used NHANES data from 1999-2002 to obtain population estimates of blood mercury levels among women of childbearing age classified as belonging to the "other" racial/ethnic group (Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial ; n = 140) . Blood mercury levels in this group were compared with those among all other women participants, classified as Mexican American, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, and "other" Hispanic.

Results: An estimated 16.59 ± 4.0% (mean ± SE) of adult female participants who self-identified as Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, or multiracial (n = 140) had blood mercury levels ≥ 5.8 µg/L, and 27.26 ± 4.22% had levels ≥ 3.5 µg/L. Among remaining survey participants (n = 3,497) , 5.08 ± 0.90% had blood mercury levels ≥ 5.8 µg/L, and 10.86 ± 1.45% had levels ≥ 3.5 µg/L.

Conclusions: Study subjects in NHANES who self-identified as Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, or multiracial had a higher prevalence of elevated blood mercury than all other racial/ethnic participants in the survey. Future studies should address reasons for the high mercury levels in this group and explore possible interventions for lowering risk of methylmercury exposure in this population.

Key Words: Alaskan Natives, American Medical Association, Asians, Centers for Disease Control, fish, mercury, methylmercury, multiracial, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, reference dose, women. Environ Health Perspect 114: 173-175 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8464 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 21 September 2005]

Address correspondence to J.M. Hightower, 2100 Webster St., Ste. 418, San Francisco, CA 94115 USA. Telephone: (415) 923-3025. Fax: (415) 749-5722. E-mail: jhightowermd@aol.com

G.T.H. is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Scholars in Health Disparities Program. A.O. is supported by a Research Career Development Award from the Health Services Research and Development Service, Department of Veterans Affairs.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 4 July 2005 ; accepted 21 September 2005.

Correction

The standard error of 0.4% that appeared in the text and Table 1 of the original manuscript published online was incorrect. It has been corrected here to 4.0.