Association of weight and dietary habits with high blood mercury levels in Korean adolescents: data from the KoNEHS cycle 4, 2018-2020.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional survey analysis
PubMed 39989115 · doi:10.35371/aoem.2025.37.e5
What was done
Data from the 4th Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS 2018-2020) were analyzed for 825 middle and high school students aged 13-18 years who had blood mercury concentrations measured. Participants completed a survey on dietary and lifestyle habits. Associations of blood mercury levels with overweight status and seafood consumption were analyzed using a generalized linear model adjusting for covariates.
What was found
The geometric mean blood mercury level for the full sample was 1.37 µg/L, with 1.31 µg/L in normal-weight individuals and 1.43 µg/L in overweight individuals. In adjusted models, blood mercury levels were significantly associated with overweight status (estimate: 0.084; 95% CI: 0.015-0.153; p = 0.018), consuming large fish and tuna more than once a week (estimate: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.077-0.284; p = 0.001), and consuming fish once a week or more (estimate: 0.147; 95% CI: 0.043-0.250; p = 0.004). A stronger association was observed between large fish consumption and blood mercury in overweight adolescents.
Why it matters
The findings identify higher BMI and regular fish or tuna consumption as distinct factors linked to mercury exposure in adolescents, indicating a need for youth dietary guidance.
Limits
The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality. Dietary and lifestyle habits were survey-based and subject to recall bias. Findings from Korean adolescents aged 13-18 may not generalize to other regions or age groups. Portion sizes and non-dietary mercury exposure sources were not described in the abstract.