Correlation between blood mercury levels in mothers and newborns in Itaituba, Pará State, Brazil.

This study evaluated transplacental mercury transfer by measuring Hg in blood samples of mothers and newborns (umbilical cord) in hospitals in the municipality (county) of Itaituba, Pará State, Brazil. Epidemiological and mercury exposure data were collected, besides clinical birth data. Mercury tests were performed by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

[Quantitative study of metal present in the hemolymph of Biomphalaria glabrata (Gastropoda), infected and uninfected with Schistosoma mansoni].

We conducted a preliminary study to quantify and compare two concentrations of the same metals present in the hemolymph of snail Biomphalaria glabrata. In this context, we used Induction Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy technique (ICP-OES), to analyze the metals in the two samples (snails infected and not infected with Schistosoma mansoni). The metals studied were: aluminum, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, lead and zinc.

[Mercury exposure evaluation among Pakaanóva Indians, Amazon Region, Brazil].

A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate mercury (Hg) exposure among 910 Pakaan va Indians from the counties of Guajar Mirim and Nova Marmor , Rond nia State, Brazil. Individual hair samples were taken from the occipital region, and Hg was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry with cold vapor generation. Mean Hg in hair samples was 8.