Methylmercury in fish and hair samples from the Balbina Feservoir, Brazilian Amazon.

The present study aimed to evaluate methylmercury in fish and human hair samples from an important hydroelectrical reservoir, Balbina (Brazil, Amazon). It presents a quite intense fishing activity and there is no known goldmining activity in its watershed. Fish and human hair were analyzed with a new extraction technique and measured by GC-ECD. Analytical quality was checked through intercomparisons between two laboratories with local samples and certified standards from IAEA. Methylmercury in hair ranged from 2.0 to 21.6 microg . g-1 with a mean of 8.76+/-5.20 microg . g-1 (N=20), while the methylmercury percentages were above 90. Fish presented methylmercury levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.9 microg small middle dot g-1 wet wt with a mean of 0.24+/-0.18 microg small middle dot g-1 wet wt (N=32), which is below the limit established for food by Brazilian legislation (0.5 microg small middle dot g-1 wet wt) and methylmercury mean percentages were above 95%. The total mean daily methylmercury intake ranged from 11 to 55 microg for 70% of the sampled population from the village based on a daily consumption of about 110 g of fish with methylmercury concentrations in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 microg . g-1. This calculation is consistent with methylmercury concentrations in hair samples in the range of 2.6 to 13.1 microg . g-1. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.