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Article: Contaminant exposure among women of childbearing age who eat St. Lawrence River sport fish.
- Article from:
- Archives of Environmental Health
- Article date:
- September 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Basin include methylmercury, organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Persons who eat sport fish from the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes regions are at high risk of toxic exposure. (1,2) Women of childbearing age are of particular concern, given the developmental and reproductive toxicities of contaminants in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
Methylmercury is a well-known neurotoxicant, to which the developing fetus is especially susceptible. It penetrates both the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, and it accumulates selectively in the fetal brain. (3,4) In ...