Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment
Abstract Mercury is a persistent, bio-accumulative, and hazardous contaminant. When released into the environment, it accumulates in water sediments, converting it to poisonous methylmercury that enters the food chain. The present study was carried out in habitations from the 11 districts of Bihar (...
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2025-04-01
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| author | Arun Kumar Radhika Agarwal Kanhaiya Kumar Nirmal Kumar Chayal Govind Kumar Rajiv Kumar Mohammad Ali Abhinav Srivastava Siddhant Aryal Tejasvi Pandey Kumar Sambhav Verma Dhruv Kumar Rahul Laxman Gajbhiye Sameer Dhingra Naresh Pothuraju Ramalingam Peraman Akhouri Bishwapriya Ranbir Nandan Ashok Sharma Manisha Singh Ashok Kumar Ghosh |
| author_facet | Arun Kumar Radhika Agarwal Kanhaiya Kumar Nirmal Kumar Chayal Govind Kumar Rajiv Kumar Mohammad Ali Abhinav Srivastava Siddhant Aryal Tejasvi Pandey Kumar Sambhav Verma Dhruv Kumar Rahul Laxman Gajbhiye Sameer Dhingra Naresh Pothuraju Ramalingam Peraman Akhouri Bishwapriya Ranbir Nandan Ashok Sharma Manisha Singh Ashok Kumar Ghosh |
| author_sort | Arun Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Mercury is a persistent, bio-accumulative, and hazardous contaminant. When released into the environment, it accumulates in water sediments, converting it to poisonous methylmercury that enters the food chain. The present study was carried out in habitations from the 11 districts of Bihar (India). In the study, n = 224 lactating women and their infants n = 172 infants participated. After obtaining the written informed consent, their breast milk, urine, and blood were collected for mercury estimation. The breastmilk content was measured in n = 181 subjects, in which 74% women had their breastmilk higher than the WHO permissible limit (< 1.7 μg/L), while 26% of the women had their breast milk below the permissible limit. The blood mercury content showed that 19% subjects had mercury content above the permissible limit [20 μg/L]. In urine mercury estimation, 49% women had mercury content above the permissible limit [10 μg/L], while, 51% women had the mercury content below the permissible limit. In the child’s urine, 54% infants had their mercury content in urine above the permissible limit [10 μg/L] while 46% infants had content below the permissible limit. The study indicates that 20% of infants had the complete accumulation of mercury in their body which is highly toxic for them. However, the mercury content in the food (wheat) had the contamination with in the permissible limit [100 μg/kg]. There was a significant correlation found between the breastmilk and child’s urine and mother’s urine. The HQ study also correlates the mercury poisoning effect with 100% of the mother’s and 66% of the infants exceeding the limit of non-carcinogenic risk. The Monte Carlo and multivariate study correlates the high health risk in the studied population due to mercury poisoning. The entire study concludes that population inhabitation in the Gangetic plains of Bihar are exposed to mercury poisoning which may be due to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. But, the levels of mercury contamination above the permissible limit could lead to neurogenerative changes in the lactating mothers and their infants. To control the present problem medical intervention is immediately required. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cc93dbe47824451dacbc4593a765afc6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-cc93dbe47824451dacbc4593a765afc62025-08-20T03:04:53ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582025-04-0125111910.1186/s12889-025-22336-9Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessmentArun Kumar0Radhika Agarwal1Kanhaiya Kumar2Nirmal Kumar Chayal3Govind Kumar4Rajiv Kumar5Mohammad Ali6Abhinav Srivastava7Siddhant Aryal8Tejasvi Pandey9Kumar Sambhav Verma10Dhruv Kumar11Rahul Laxman Gajbhiye12Sameer Dhingra13Naresh Pothuraju14Ramalingam Peraman15Akhouri Bishwapriya16Ranbir Nandan17Ashok Sharma18Manisha Singh19Ashok Kumar Ghosh20Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreLovely Professional UniversityMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreAmity UniversityIndian Institute of Technology- BombayMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreLovely Professional UniversityAmity UniversityUPESNational Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Geological Survey of IndiaDepartment of Geology, Patna UniversityAll India Institute of Medical SciencesMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreMahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research CentreAbstract Mercury is a persistent, bio-accumulative, and hazardous contaminant. When released into the environment, it accumulates in water sediments, converting it to poisonous methylmercury that enters the food chain. The present study was carried out in habitations from the 11 districts of Bihar (India). In the study, n = 224 lactating women and their infants n = 172 infants participated. After obtaining the written informed consent, their breast milk, urine, and blood were collected for mercury estimation. The breastmilk content was measured in n = 181 subjects, in which 74% women had their breastmilk higher than the WHO permissible limit (< 1.7 μg/L), while 26% of the women had their breast milk below the permissible limit. The blood mercury content showed that 19% subjects had mercury content above the permissible limit [20 μg/L]. In urine mercury estimation, 49% women had mercury content above the permissible limit [10 μg/L], while, 51% women had the mercury content below the permissible limit. In the child’s urine, 54% infants had their mercury content in urine above the permissible limit [10 μg/L] while 46% infants had content below the permissible limit. The study indicates that 20% of infants had the complete accumulation of mercury in their body which is highly toxic for them. However, the mercury content in the food (wheat) had the contamination with in the permissible limit [100 μg/kg]. There was a significant correlation found between the breastmilk and child’s urine and mother’s urine. The HQ study also correlates the mercury poisoning effect with 100% of the mother’s and 66% of the infants exceeding the limit of non-carcinogenic risk. The Monte Carlo and multivariate study correlates the high health risk in the studied population due to mercury poisoning. The entire study concludes that population inhabitation in the Gangetic plains of Bihar are exposed to mercury poisoning which may be due to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. But, the levels of mercury contamination above the permissible limit could lead to neurogenerative changes in the lactating mothers and their infants. To control the present problem medical intervention is immediately required.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22336-9Mercury poisoningBreastmilkLactating mothersInfantsGeospatial mapping |
| spellingShingle | Arun Kumar Radhika Agarwal Kanhaiya Kumar Nirmal Kumar Chayal Govind Kumar Rajiv Kumar Mohammad Ali Abhinav Srivastava Siddhant Aryal Tejasvi Pandey Kumar Sambhav Verma Dhruv Kumar Rahul Laxman Gajbhiye Sameer Dhingra Naresh Pothuraju Ramalingam Peraman Akhouri Bishwapriya Ranbir Nandan Ashok Sharma Manisha Singh Ashok Kumar Ghosh Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment BMC Public Health Mercury poisoning Breastmilk Lactating mothers Infants Geospatial mapping |
| title | Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment |
| title_full | Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment |
| title_fullStr | Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment |
| title_short | Mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the Gangetic plains of Bihar: risk assessment |
| title_sort | mercury poisoning in women and infants inhabiting the gangetic plains of bihar risk assessment |
| topic | Mercury poisoning Breastmilk Lactating mothers Infants Geospatial mapping |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22336-9 |
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