[A study of hazard of methylmercury pollution in no. 2 Songhua River to fishermen's health].

In the present paper the methyl mercury pollution in no. 2 Songhua river is reported. After ten years of continuous investigation, it was found that the health of fishermen who had eaten mercury polluted fish as a dietary for a long time was affected. There was an accumulation of methyl mercury in the fishermen's body and symptoms and pathologic changes related to toxication by methyl mercury. The average value of mercury content in fish (0.44-0.89 ppm) was shown to be above the maximum allowable concentration by one to three times. The intake of methyl mercury by the fishermen was in the range of 0.17-0.34 mg/per day and 90% of the mercury in the fishermen's body was from the polluted fish. The average mercury content in hair was 13-58 times higher than that of normal. The mercury concentration in urine after therapy was higher than that before by 10.6 to 33.3 times. There was a close correlation between mercury content in hair and in blood and the ratio was shown to be 250:1. The hazard of methyl mercury to fishermen was discussed.