ArticleCommunications biology2022
Mercury levels in hair are associated with reduced neurobehavioral performance and altered brain structures in young adults.
Article in Communications biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between heavy metals exposure and depression: findings of the NHANES from 2003 to 2020.European journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Climate, Toxic Exposures and Work: Linking the Amazon, Africa, and Southern Europe through a COP30 Dialogue.Work and health · 2026Article
- Arsenic, mercury, manganese, and lead exposure in Mexican adults aged 50 and older.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2025Article
- A Brazilian Minamata disease? Neurologists must be aware of mercury exposure and intoxication.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2025Review
- Trace Metal and Metalloid Profiles in Hair Samples from Children in the Oil-Producing Region of Kazakhstan.Toxics · 2025Article
- Concerning Mercury (Hg) Levels in the Hair of Children Inhabiting a Volcanically Active Area.Toxics · 2025Article
- Mercury Contamination and Co-exposures in the Amazon Basin: At the Center of the Planetary Environmental Crisis.Annals of global health · 2025Review
- Article
- Association between urinary metals and prostate-specific antigen in aging population with depression: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The detrimental effects of high-level mercury exposure on the central nervous system as well as effects of low-level exposure during early development have been established. However, no previous studies have investigated the effects of mercury level on brain morphometry using advance imaging techniques in young adults. Here, utilizing hair analysis which has been advocated as a method for biological monitoring, data of regional gray matter volume (rGMV), regional white matter volume (rWMV), fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), cognitive functions, and depression among 920 healthy young adults in Japan, we showed that greater hair mercury levels were weakly but significantly associated with diminished cognitive performance, particularly on tasks requiring rapid processing (speed measures), lower depressive tendency, lower rGMV in areas of the thalamus and hippocampus, lower rWMV in widespread areas, greater FA in bilaterally distributed white matter areas overlapping with areas of significant rWMV reductions and lower MD of the widely distributed gray and white matter areas particularly in the bilateral frontal lobe and the right basal ganglia. These results suggest that even normal mercury exposure levels in Japan are weakly associated with differences of brain structures and lower neurobehavioral performance and altered mood among young adults.
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