Factors affecting internal mercury burdens among eastern German children

Internal burdens of mercury were evaluated among 5- to 14-y-old eastern German children in the heavily polluted areas of Bitterfeld, a center of chemical production and coat mining, and Hettstedt, a region of nonferrous metal smelting and mining. We compared blood and urine mercury concentrations in these children with mercury burdens in children who lived in a control area. The unadjusted geometric means of mercury levels in the total group were 0.25 mu g/l (95% confidence interval = 0.24, 0.27) in blood and 0.36 mu g mercury/g creatinine (95% confidence interval = 0.33, 0.39) in urine. Mercury levels in blood and urine were not significantly higher in children who occupied the true polluted areas, compared with children in the control area. The most significant factor that affected urinary mercury levels was the number of dental amalgam fillings; 27% of the variance in the regression model was explained by the presence of these fillings.