ArticlePloS one2013
Total blood mercury levels and depression among adults in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2008.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- An interpretable machine learning model predicts the interactive and cumulative risks of different environmental chemical exposures on depression.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- A longitudinal metabolomics study on blood mercury and depressive symptoms.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association of metalloestrogens exposure with depression in women across reproductive lifespan.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Association between serum and urinary environmental metal levels and major depressive disorder: a study based on logistic regression and quantile regression.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Association between blood cadmium and depression varies by age and smoking status in US adult women: a cross-sectional study from NHANES 2005-2016.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Trace Elements Levels in Major Depressive Disorder-Evaluation of Potential Threats and Possible Therapeutic Approaches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Mercury levels in hair are associated with reduced neurobehavioral performance and altered brain structures in young adults.Communications biology · 2022Article
- Machine learning model for depression based on heavy metals among aging people: A study with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2018.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Are US adults with low-exposure to methylmercury at increased risk for depression? A study based on 2011-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES).International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2021Article
- A Scoping Review of Non-Occupational Exposures to Environmental Pollutants and Adult Depression, Anxiety, and Suicide.Current environmental health reports · 2020Article
- Article
- Serum mercury concentration and the risk of ischemic stroke: The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Trace Element Study.Environment international · 2018Article
- Identification of confounder in epidemiologic data contaminated by measurement error in covariates.BMC medical research methodology · 2016Article
- Are higher blood mercury levels associated with dry eye symptoms in adult Koreans? A population-based cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMercury is a neurotoxicant linked with psychiatric symptoms at high levels of exposure. However, it is unclear whether an association is present at the low exposure levels in the US adult population. MATERIALS AND
methodsCross-sectional associations of total blood mercury and depression were assessed in 6,911 adults age ≥20 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005-2008. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess depression (high likelihood of a depressive spectrum disorder diagnosis; score 5-27).
resultsUnadjusted survey weighted logistic regression suggested that higher total blood mercury was associated with lower odds of depression (Odds Ratio = 0.49, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.36-0.65, comparing the highest and lowest mercury quintiles). This association largely disappeared after adjustment for sociodemographic variables (income-poverty ratio, education, marital status). However, in age-stratified analyses, this inverse relationship remained in older adults (age ≥40) even after adjustment for sociodemographic variables. Simulation analyses adjusting for expected confounding effects of fish intake suggested that the inverse relationship among older adults may be plausibly attributed to residual confounding (Odds Ratio = 0.75, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.50-1.12, comparing the highest and lowest mercury quintiles).
conclusionsHigher total blood mercury was not associated with increased odds of depression. The lower odds of depression in older adults with higher total blood mercury may be due to residual confounding.
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