Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30019578›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2018

Traditional Tibetan Medicine Induced High Methylmercury Exposure Level and Environmental Mercury Burden in Tibet, China.

Maodian Liu, Yipeng He, Zofia Baumann, Chenghao Yu, Shidong Ge, Xuejun Sun, Menghan Cheng, Huizhong Shen, Robert P Mason, Long Chen and 2 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Maodian LiuMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.
Yipeng HeMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.
Zofia BaumannDepartment of Marine Sciences , University of Connecticut , 1080 Shennecossett Road , Groton , Connecticut 06340 , United States.
Chenghao YuMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.
Shidong GeMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.
Xuejun SunKey Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes , Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101 , China.
Menghan ChengMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.
Huizhong ShenSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , Georgia 30332 , United States.
Robert P MasonDepartment of Marine Sciences , University of Connecticut , 1080 Shennecossett Road , Groton , Connecticut 06340 , United States.
Long ChenKey Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education) , East China Normal University , Shanghai 200241 , China.ORCID 0000-0001-9574-7307
Qianggong ZhangKey Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes , Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101 , China.ORCID 0000-0002-2189-4248
Xuejun WangMinistry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences , Peking University , Beijing 100871 , China.ORCID 0000-0001-9990-1391
Peking University · CNUniversity of Connecticut · USChinese Academy of Sciences · CNEast China Normal University · CNGeorgia Institute of Technology · US

Funding

VARIATION IN BIOACCUMULATION AND BIOMAGNIFICATION OF METALS IN NORTHERN US LAKESP42ES007373 · NIEHS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI STANTON, BRUCE A. · 1995 to 2019
$52.0M
NIEHS NIH HHS P42 ES007373
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Highly elevated concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were found in the municipal sewage in Tibet. Material flow analysis supports the hypothesis that these elevated concentrations are related to regular ingestion of Hg-containing Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM). In Tibet in 2015, a total of 3600 kg of THg was released from human body into the terrestrial environment as a result of TTM ingestion, amounting to 45% of the total THg release into the terrestrial environment in Tibet, hence substantially enhancing the environmental Hg burden. Regular ingestion of TTM leads to chronic exposure of Tibetans to inorganic Hg (IHg) and MeHg, which is 34 to 3000-fold and 0-12-fold higher than from any other known dietary sources, respectively. Application of a human physiology model demonstrated that ingestion of TTM can induce high blood IHg and MeHg levels in the human body. Moreover, 180 days would be required for the MeHg to be cleared out of the human body and return to the initial concentration i.e. prior to the ingestion of 1 TTM pill. Our analysis suggests that high Hg level contained in TTM could be harmful to human health and elevate the environmental Hg burden in Tibet.

Indexed as

MercuryMethylmercury CompoundsChinaEnvironmental MonitoringHumansMedicine, Tibetan TraditionalTibetMercuryMethylmercury Compounds

Identifiers

PMID30019578
PMCPMC6147262
OpenAlexW2883276846

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.