Barbieri F. L. auteur aut IRD Cournil Amandine auteur aut IRD Gardon Jacques auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Methylmercury exposure in Amazonian communities through fish consumption has been widely documented in Brazil. There is still a lack of data in other Amazonian countries, which is why we conducted this study in the Bolivian Amazon basin. Simple random sampling was used from a small village located in the lower Beni River, where there is intense gold mining and high fish consumption. All participants were interviewed and hair samples were taken to measure total mercury concentrations. The hair mercury geometric mean in the general population was 3.02 mu g/g (CI: 2.69-3.37; range: 0.42-15.65). Age and gender were not directly associated with mercury levels. Fish consumption showed a positive relation and so did occupation, especially small-scale gold mining. Hair mercury levels were lower than those found in Brazilian studies, but still higher than in non-exposed populations. It is necessary to assess mercury exposure in the Amazonian regions where data is still lacking, using a standardized indicator. specialized mercury exposure Bolivia Amazon gold mining fish consumption BOLIVIE BRESIL 050 062 19 4 267-277 2009 0960-3123 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00003949 10.1080/09603120802559342 0960-3123 [F B010093132] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00003949 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2025-03/010093132.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2009-09-01 2025-03-12 PAR00003949 fre