Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Determination of Inorganic Arsenic in a Wide Range of Food Matrices using Hydride Generation - Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
Published on: September 1, 2017
Impact of low-level mercury exposure on intelligence quotient in children via rice consumption
Lin Feng1, Chanchan Zhang1, Haohao Liu1
1School of Public Health/Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550025, China.
Abstract:
Wanshan is a city in southwest China that has several inactive mercury (Hg) mines. The local population are exposed to methylmercury (MeHg) due to the consumption of Hg contaminated rice. The relationship between Hg exposure and the cognitive functions of local children is unknown. This study investigated the relationship between hair Hg concentrations and the intelligence quotient (IQ) of 314 children aged 8-10 years, recruited from three local primary schools in Wanshan area in 2018 and 2019. IQ was evaluated using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The average THg concentration in children's hair samples was 1.53 μg g-1 (range: 0.21-12.6 μg g-1), and 65.6% exceeded the United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) recommended value of 1 μg g-1. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that children with hair Hg ≥ 1 μg g-1 were 1.58 times more likely to have an IQ score <80, which is the clinical cut-off for borderline intellectual disability (R2 = 0.20, p = 0.03). Increasing of 1 μg g-1 hair Hg resulted in 1 point of IQ loss in Wanshan children, which was.much higher than that via fish consumption. The economical cost due to Hg exposure was estimated to be $69.8 million (9.43% of total GDP) in the Wanshan area in 2018.
Related Concept Videos
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Biological Influences on Intelligence
The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
Periodic Table Provides Information...
Intellectual Disability
Measures of Intelligence
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this;...
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...

