Mercury found in blood of one-third of American women

LOS ANGELES, California, September 1, 2009 (ENS) – The level of inorganic mercury in the blood of American women has been increasing since 1999 and it is now found in the blood of one in three women, according to a new analysis of government data for more than 6,000 American women.

“My study found compelling evidence that inorganic mercury deposition within the human body is a cumulative process, increasing with age and overall in the population over time,” said author Dan Laks, a neuroscience researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In a separate statistical analysis, he found that older women had more inorganic mercury in their blood than younger women, indicating that mercury accumulates in the blood over time.

“My findings also suggest a rise in risks for disease associated with mercury over time,” Laks said. …

Inorganic mercury was detected in the blood of 30 percent of women studied in 2005-2006, a steep rise from the two percent of women who were found to have inorganic mercury in their blood in the 1999-2000 study. …

Mercury Found in Blood of One-Third of American Women