我国高汞低硒地区母子体头发中汞和硒的相关性研究

Correlation between mercury and selenium in scalp hair of 29 pairs of women and their newborn infants at a high-mercury and low-selenium area in China

用仪器中子活化法研究了我国高汞低硒地区第二松花江流域２９对母子体头发中汞、硒水平及其相关性。结果指出，子体中的汞含量与母体相当，而子体中的硒大多比母体的高。硒与汞的摩尔比值亦是子体比母体的高４０％左右。这表明子体能从母体中摄取较多的硒，以抵御汞的毒性，这种“自保护”机制对母体中的胎儿发育起着极为重要的作用。

The levels of mercury and selenium and their correlation in scalp hair samples of 29 pairs of women and their newborn children living at a high-Hg and low-Se area the Second Songhuajiang River System have been studied by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Our results indicate that the Hg level in infant hair samples roughly equals to that in their mother's, while the Se level in infants is much higher. The molar ratios of Se/Hg in baby's hair are also 40% higher than those in mother's. It is demonstrated that infant is able to absorb more selenium from mother's body to protect from or alleviate the intoxication of mercury. The autoprotection mechanism likely plays an extremely critical role during the development stage of foetus.