Mercury contamination of solls, rice plants, and human hair in the vicinity of a mercury mine in mie prefecture, Japan

In order to clarify the characteristics of mercury contamination of soil, rice plant and human hair in the vicinity of a mercury mine, a survey was conducted in the area surrounding the Nifu mine in the Seiwa village in Mie Prefecture, and the relationships between mercury levels of the soil, various parts of rice plant, and hair of the inhabitants were investigated. Mercury contamination of the soils was confined to the Nifu hamlet and to apart of the surrounding hamlets in the village, and mercury levels in the soils ranged from non-contaminated background values (below 1.0 ppm) to 100 ppm Hg. These high levels of mercury in the soils were reflected in the mercury levels of roots and leaves and sterns of rice grown on these soils. Mercury levels of brown rice did not show a significant correlation with the mercury levels of soils, but brown rice from the contaminated soils contained higher levels of mercury in the mean value. The mercury levels of hair of the inhabitants of the Seiwa village ranged from 1.29 to 11.8 ppm Hg except for the hair of a few elderly men who had been working in the Nifu mine, and no significant differences were detected in the range of the mercury levels compared with those from the control areas.