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Methylmercury in Fish

May 1, 2026

Selected References:

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  • Hsi HC, et al. 2014. The neurological effects of prenatal and postnatal mercury/methylmercury exposure on three-year-old children in Taiwan. Chemosphere; 100:71-76. 
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  • Klus JK, et al. 2023. Postnatal methylmercury exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 7 years of age in the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2, NeuroToxicology; 99: 115-119, 
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  • Kopylev L, & Segal D. 2025. Relationship of prenatal methylmercury exposure and language/verbal function: a meta-analysis. Environmental health : a global access science source; 24(1), 68.  
  • Kushawaha B, et al. 2025. The impact of mercury exposure on male reproduction: mechanistic insights. J Trace Elem Med Biol; 87:127598. 
  • Lamoureux-Tremblay V, et al. 2021. Altered functional activations of prefrontal brain areas during emotional processing of fear in Inuit adolescents exposed to environmental contaminants. Nurotoxicol Teratol; 85:106973.  
  • Li S, et al. 2022. Relationship between maternal heavy metal exposure and congenital heart defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int; 29(37):55348-55366. 
  • Maeda E, et al. 2019. Associations of environmental exposures to methylmercury and selenium with female infertility: A case-control study. Environmental research; 168,357–363.  
  • Minguez-Alarcon L et al; Earth Study Team. 2017. Hair mercury (Hg) levels, fish consumption and semen parameters among men attending a fertility center. Int J Hyg Environ Health; pii:S1438-4639(17)30315-2.Myers GJ, et al. 2003. Prenatal methyl mercury exposure from ocean fish consumption in the Seychelles child development study. Lancet 361:1686-1692. 
  • Myers, et al. 2009. Postnatal exposure to methyl mercury from fish consumption: a review and new data from the Seychelles Child Development Study. Neurotoxicology; 30(3):338-349  
  • Myers GJ, et al. 2007. Nutrient and methyl mercury exposure from consuming fish. J Nutr; 137(12):2805-2808. 
  • Nišević RJ, et al. 2019. Combined prenatal exposure to mercury and LCUPUFA on newborn’s brain measures and neurodevelopment at the age of 18 months. Environ Res; 178:108682.  
  • O’Connor LE, et al. 2025. Mercury exposure and childhood outcomes: an overview of systematic reviews. Environ Res; 274:121196. 
  • Oken E and Bellinger DC.2008. Fish consumption, methylmercury and child neurodevelopment. Curr Opin Pediatr 20(2):178-183. 
  • Papadopoulou E, et al. 2021. Maternal seafood intake during pregnancy, prenatal mercury exposure and child body mass index trajectories up to 8 years. Int J Epidemiol; 50(4):1134-1146.  
  • Polevoy C, et al. 2020. Prenatal exposure to legacy contaminants and visual acuity in Canadian infants: a maternal-infant research on environmental chemicals study. Environ Health; 19(1):14.  
  • Rignell-Hydbom A, et al. 2007. Dietary exposure to methyl mercury and PCB and the associations with semen parameters among Swedish fishermen. Environmental health : a global access science source; 6,14.  
  • Rothenberg SE, et al. 2021. Maternal methylmercury exposure through rice ingestion and child neurodevelopment in the first three years; a prospective cohort study in rural China. Environ Health; 20(1):50.  
  • Saavedra S, et al. 2021. Impact of dietary mercury intake during pregnancy on the health of neonates and children: a systematic review. Nut Rev; 80(2):317-328.  
  • Saito, H. 2020 (Reproduction from 2004). Congenital Minamata disease: a description of two cases in Niigata. Neurotoxicology; 81:360-363. 
  • Sarzo B, et al.2024. The impact of prenatal mercury on neurobehavioral functioning longitudinally assessed from a young age to pre-adolescence in a Spanish birth cohort. Environmental research; 252(Pt 2)118954.  
  • Schaefer C, et al 2007. Industrial Chemicals and environmental contaminants: Mercury In Drugs During Pregnancy and Lactation, pgs 816-817. Amsterdam. 
  • Shamlaye C, et al. 2020. The Seychelles Child Development Study: Two decades of collaboration. Reproduction in Neurotoxicology. 81:315-322. 
  • Skerfving & Copplestone. 1976. Poisoning caused by the consumption of organomercury-dressed seed in Iraq. Bull World Health Organ; 1976;54(1):101-112. 
  • Sloane-Reeves J, et al. 2020. Scholastic achievement among children enrolled in the Seychelles Child Development Study. Neurotoxicology; 81:347-352.  
  • Small V, et al. 2025. Through the Eye: Retinal Changes of Prenatal Mercury Exposure in Grassy Narrows First Nation, Canada. International journal of environmental research and public health; 23(1)1.  
  • Smith JC, et al. 1997. Hair methylmercury levels in U.S. women. Arch Environ Health. 52(6):476-80. 
  • Spiller P, et al. 2019. An abundance of seafood consumption studies presents new opportunities to evaluate effects on neurocognitive development. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids; 151:8-13.  
  • Strain J. 2014. Eating fish for two. Nutr Bull; 39(2):181-186.  
  • Strain JJ, et al. 2015. Prenatal exposure to methyl mercury from fish consumption and polyunsaturated fatty acids: associations with child development at 20 mo of age in an observational study in the Republic of Seychelles. Am J Clin Nutr; 101(3):530-537. 
  • Strain JJ, et al. 2021. Associations of prenatal methylmercury exposure and maternal polyunsaturated fatty acid status with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 7 years of age: results from the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2. Am J Clin Nutr; 113(2):304-313.  
  • Tian T, et al. 2021. Single and mixed effects of metallic elements in maternal serum during pregnancy on risk for fetal neural tube defects: A Bayesian kernel regression approach. Environ Pollut; 285:117203.  
  • Tong M, et al. 2021. Total mercury concentration in placental tissue, a good biomarker of prenatal mercury exposure, is associated with risk for neural tube defects in offspring. Environ Int; 150:106425.  
  • Ulloa AC, et al. 2021. Prenatal methylmercury exposure and DNA methylation in seven-year-old children in the Seychelles Child Development Study. Environ Int; 147:106321.  
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  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2026. Choose Fish and Shellfish Wisely. https://www.epa.gov/choose-fish-and-shellfish-wisely. 
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2014. Estimated Fish Consumption Rates for the U.S. Population and Selected Subpopulations (NHANES 2003–2010). Final report. EPA-820-R-14-002. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-01/documents/fish-consumption-rates-2014.pdf. 
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2013. Trends in Blood Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Among U.S. Women of Reproductive Age (EPA NHANES, July 2013).  
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2026. National Biomonitoring Program. Mercury Factsheet. https://www.epa.gov/americaschildrenenvironment/biomonitoring-mercury  
  • United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 2022. Eating Fish for Those Who Might Become or Are Pregnant or Breastfeeding and Children Ages 1 to 11 Years. https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/questions-answers-fdaepa-advice-about-eating-fish-those-who-might-become-or-are-pregnant-or.  
  • United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) & United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2024. Advice About Eating Fish. https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/advice-about-eating-fish 
  • van Wijngaarden E, et al. 2017. Methyl mercury exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes in the Seychelles Child Development study main cohort at age 22 and 24 years. Neurotoxicol Teratol; 59:35-42. 
  • Vigeh M, et al. 2018. Prenatal mercury exposure and birth weight. Reprod Toxicol; 76:78-83.  
  • Weichselbaum E, et al. 2013. Fish in the diet: a review. Nutrition Bulletin; 38: 128-177. 
  • Xiang H, et al. 2019. Protective effect of high zinc levels on preterm birth induced by mercury exposure during pregnancy: A birth cohort study in China. J Trace Elem Med Biol; 55:71-77.  
  • Yorifuji T, et al. 2025. Prenatal methylmercury poisoning and neurocognitive impairment in Minamata. The Science of the total environment, 985, 179743.  
  • Yorifuji T, et al. 2026. Long-term neurological and neurocognitive deficits in adults prenatally exposed to methylmercury: Minamata disease. Neurotoxicology and teratology; 115,107590.  
  • Young EC, et al. 2020 (Reproduction from 2004). Association between prenatal dietary methyl mercury and developmental outcomes on acquisition of articulatory-phonologic skills in children in the Republic of Seychelles. Neurotoxicology; 81:353-357.  

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