revised final - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ...

MERCURY 357
2. HEALTH EFFECTS
supportive therapy and passive observation of a progressively deteriorating health status are the best that
can be done.
No information was found that parental exposure to mercury results in heritable defects or deficits in germ
cell function that would be translated to the offspring. There is considerable information on the transfer of
mercury from the mother to the developing child, both during the prenatal period via the placenta and
during postnatal nursing; both inorganic mercury and organic mercury pass from mother to child. This is
an area of active research primarily to characterize the dose, duration, and form of mercury to which the
child is being exposed. Further work in this area is needed.
Child health data needs related to exposure are discussed in Section 5.8.1, Data Needs: Exposure of
Children.
2.11.3 Ongoing Studies
Ongoing studies regarding mercury's health effects and mechanisms of action were reported in the Federal
Research In Progress (FEDRIP 1998) database. Table 2-14 lists these studies.