Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4-5
pubmed:dateCreated
1998-12-10
pubmed:abstractText
Pollution of hydrographic basins has affected the flora and fauna that thrive in these aquatic ecosystems, and fish, which constitute an important food resource, often contain a plethora of potentially toxic chemicals. In a major research project on early neurotoxic effects of environmental exposure to manganese among residents in Southwest Quebec, fish consumption from 2 lakes of the Upper St. Lawrence River System, was surveyed as a potential confounding factor. Participants were selected using a random, stratified sampling strategy from lists of the Quebec Health Plan. Following exclusions, 273 men and women between 20-69 years were retained for the present analysis. A total of 103 (37.7%) reported eating fish from the Upper St. Lawrence. Although fisheaters and non-fisheaters were similar for most socio-demographic variables, significantly more fisheaters (65.2%) reported consuming alcoholic beverages as compared to non-fisheaters (42.4%) (Chi Sq. <0.01). To eliminate this possible bias, fisheaters were matched to non-fisheaters for the variables sex, alcohol consumption (never or occasionally vs. regularly), age (+/-5y) and education (+/-2y). A total of 63 matched pairs were thus created. Paired analyses (t-test or Signed Rank) showed that fisheaters had higher levels of blood organic mercury and lead. Analysis of nervous system functions revealed that both groups performed similarly on tests of sensory function, visual memory and recognition, fine motor performance and some motor tests, but fisheaters performed significantly more poorly (p<0.05) on tests requiring cognitive flexibility, word naming, auditory recall, and more complex motor tasks. The profile of deficits is consistent with diminished capacity for information processing. These observations were made within a study that was not specifically designed to examine the effects of fish eating from these two lakes, and the characterization of fish dietary habits has many limitations. Nevertheless, the findings are sufficiently compelling to warrant further studies, since fish from the Upper St. Lawrence Lakes are known to contain multiple neurotoxic substances.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0161-813X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
19
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
691-702
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:articleTitle
Preliminary evidence of neurotoxicity associated with eating fish from the Upper St. Lawrence River Lakes.
pubmed:affiliation
Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Clinical Trial, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.