The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the Zero Mercury Working Group, and the Mercury Policy Project have released a report on mercury concentrations in hair.
'Assessing hair mercury levels of women of childbearing age in 9 countries: A civil society pilot project' finds that in four of the nine countries surveyed, mercury concentrations in a high percentage of hair samples exceed safe levels.
2 October 2013: The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the Zero Mercury Working Group, and the Mercury Policy Project have released a report on mercury concentrations in hair. ‘Assessing hair mercury levels of women of childbearing age in 9 countries: A civil society pilot project’ finds that in four of the nine countries surveyed, mercury concentrations in a high percentage of hair samples exceed safe levels.
Released in advance of the Diplomatic Conference on the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the study includes hair samples from nine countries: Armenia, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Japan, Mauritius, Nepal, South Africa and Spain. It identifies a high level of variability in mercury concentrations between countries and communities. The study reports concentrations exceeding the safe threshold in: 71% of hair samples from Japan; 64% of hair samples from Spain; 36% of hair samples from Mauritius; and 23% from Côte d’Ivoire.
According to the report, high concentrations of mercury correlate with frequent consumption of the types of fish and seafood that tend to have elevated mercury contamination.
The Zero Mercury Working Group is an international coalition of NGOs formed in 2005 by the EEB and the Mercury Policy Project. [EEB Press Release] [Zero Mercury Working Group Press Release] [Publication: Assessing Hair Mercury Levels of Women of Childbearing Age in 9 Countries]