Mercury Toxicity in Wildland Firefighters: A Progress Report

After the sudden emergence of mercury (Hg) poisoning in bald eagles in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in December 2005, we began a preliminary study to investigate if Hg accumulated at toxic levels in wildland firefighters who were exposed to smoke and other particulates while fighting fires in the western United States during summer 2007. Deviating from our original design, we were able to analyze blood from 12 subjects, and repeated blood draws occurred for only four of those subjects. Three of the subjects had measurable Hg levels that approached the limit of a non­toxic Hg concentration (