Assessment of prenatal exposure to mercury: human biomonitoring survey (2018)

The first survey protocol - a tool for developing national protocols

This publication describes the design of a survey for assessment of prenatal exposure to mercury using human biomonitoring. The selection of target populations and biological matrix, planning of the survey, recruitment and fieldwork, data management and communication, community involvement strategy and ethical considerations are addressed in the protocol. An informed consent form, eligibility screening form and a questionnaire for collecting epidemiological information are also included in the protocol. The protocol was used to guide pilot surveys for assessment of prenatal exposure to mercury in China, Ghana, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the Russian Federation, and can be applied for mercury human biomonitoring surveys globally. The protocol has been approved by the WHO Ethics Research Committee.