Exposure to methyl mercury from birth to adulthood impairs high-frequency hearing in monkeys

Hearing deficits are a frequent consequence of both developmental and adult methyl mercury exposure in humans. However, a detailed characterization of these deficits has not been performed in either humans or animals. Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were dosed from birth to 7 years of age with 50 micrograms/kg/day of mercury as methyl mercuric chloride. Steady-state blood mercury levels during dosing were 0.6-0.9 ppm. When monkeys were 14 years old, pure tone detection thresholds were determined by a psychophysical procedure. Control monkeys exhibited thresholds at frequencies between 125 and 31,500 Hz comparable to previously published values for macaques. One methyl mercury-treated monkey exhibited normal detection thresholds at all frequencies. Three treated monkeys were impaired at the second highest frequency tested (25,000 Hz) and therefore were not tested at 31,500 Hz. The fifth treated monkey displayed severely elevated thresholds at middle frequencies (10,000-12,500 Hz), precluding testing at higher frequencies. These results indicate a selective high-frequency deficit in monkeys exposed to methyl mercury from birth to adulthood and not exposed to methyl mercury in the 7 intervening years before auditory testing. These findings extend previous results in this group of monkeys in which deficits in spatial and temporal visual function were observed.