Economic evaluation of health consequences of prenatal methylmercury exposure in France

To perform an economic evaluation of annual national benefits of reduction of the prenatal MeHg exposure in France.We used data on hair-Hg concentrations in French women of childbearing age (18–45？years) from a national sample of 126 women and from two studies conducted in coastal regions (n？=？161and n？=？503). A linear dose response function with a slope of 0.465 IQ point reduction per μg/g increase in hair-Hg concentration was used, along with a log transformation of the exposure scale, where a doubling of exposure was associated with a loss of 1.5 IQ points. The costs calculations utilized an updated estimate of €2008 17,363 per IQ point decrement, with three hypothetical exposure cut-off points (hair-Hg of 0.58, 1.0, and 2.5？μg/g).Because of higher exposure levels of women in coastal communities, the annual economic impacts based on these data were greater than those using the national data, i.e. € 1.62 billion (national), and € 3.02 billion and € 2.51 billion (regional), respectively, with the linear model, and € 5.46 billion (national), and € 9.13 billion and € 8.17 billion (regional), with the log model, for exposures above 0.58？μg/g.These results emphasize that efforts to reduce MeHg exposures would have high social benefits by preventing the serious and lifelong consequences of neurodevelopmental deficits in children.Human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) occurs primarily through ingestion of seafood and freshwater fish [1]. Due to biomagnification in food chains, relatively high MeHg concentrations occur in piscivorous marine species [2] and may exceed the highest recommended limit [3], while smaller non-predatory species, such as herring or sardine, contain concentrations of one-tenth of this limit or even less [3]. Methylation, bioaccumulation through food chains, and human intake levels are difficult to model [1]. Thus, risk assessment must rely on biomarkers of total human uptakes.Once absorbed, MeHg acts as a developmental neurotoxicant [4-7]. As the c