In Kadoma (Zimbabwe) gold is extracted from ore based on a simple technology using mercury. Women are exposed whilst living in an exposed area, or even more working directly with mercury. Breast fed infants are exposed via mercury contaminated milk and the general environmental mercury exposure. The aim of the study was to measure infants and mothers levels of mercury in urine and hair, as well as in breast milk. In 2006, an environmental epidemiological field study with 120 mother - child pairs was conducted. A non exposed control group (n = 42) was compared with a medium exposed group (n = 51) and a high exposed group (occupational exposure, n = 27). Urine and hair samples from mother and infants plus breast milk samples were analyzed for total mercury. 120 breast milk samples were analyzed, median (maximum) concentrations [μg Hg/l] were (i) control group < 0.50 (1.55), (ii) medium exposed group 1.10 (10.48), (iii) high exposed group 1.20 (24.80) (p < 0,001). Urine and hair results were distributed similarly for infants and mothers, with higher levels according to the exposure subgroup. All specimen results correlated very well with another, indicating there is a pathway between breast milk and infant's level of mercury. The daily uptake of mercury via breast milk was calculated. The reference dose of 0.3°[μg Hg/kg BW/d] was used to compare the burden of the infants. No infant from the control group, but 17.6% of the medium and 18.5% of the high exposed group were above the reference dose. Mercury in breast milk is generally higher in artisanal and small scale gold mining areas. Breast fed infants were burdened with toxic mercury via breast milk and via the general environment, both are important public health issues.

中文翻译：

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婴儿和母亲母乳，尿液和头发中的汞含量，来自卡多玛/津巴布韦手工和小型金矿开采区的数据。

在卡多马（津巴布韦），使用汞的一种简单技术就从矿石中提取了黄金。妇女在暴露地区生活时会暴露在外，甚至更多地直接与汞打交道。母乳喂养的婴儿通过受汞污染的牛奶和一般的环境汞暴露进行接触。该研究的目的是测量婴儿和母亲尿液，头发和母乳中的汞含量。2006年，我们对120对母子进行了环境流行病学现场研究。将未暴露对照组（n = 42）与中等暴露组（n = 51）和高暴露组（职业暴露，n = 27）进行比较。分析了母婴的尿液和头发样本以及母乳样本中的总汞。分析了120个母乳样品，中位数（最大）浓度[μgHg / l]为（i）对照组<0.50（1.55），（ii）中度暴露组1.10（10.48），（iii）高度暴露组1.20（24.80）（p <0.001）。婴儿和母亲的尿液和头发结果分布相似，根据暴露亚组的不同，其水平较高。所有标本的结果与另一个的相关性都很好，表明母乳和婴儿的汞含量之间存在一条通路。计算了每天通过母乳摄入的汞量。参考剂量为0.3°[μgHg / kg BW / d]，以比较婴儿的负担。对照组中没有婴儿，但中度暴露组的17.6％和高暴露组的18.5％高于参考剂量。在手工和小规模采金区，母乳中的汞含量通常较高。