NIMD Forum 2006 Recent Topics of Fetal Methylmercury Exposure and Its Effects Opening Session   9:00 - 9:15 Opening Address Dr. Komyo Eto, Director General, National Institute for Minamata Disease   Welcome Remarks Dr. Tatsuya Aoki, Director, Special Environmental Disease Office, Ministry of the Environment 1 Morning Session Moderators:Dr. Hiroshi Satoh (Tohoku University) Dr. Tim Meredith (WHO)   9:15 - 9:40 Dietary advisories and public information Dr. Pal Weihe (Faroese Hospital System） 2 9:40 - 10:05 Choosing the age for assessment of neurotoxicity Dr. Frodi Debes (University of Southern Denmark) 12 10:05 - 10:30 Joint analysis of the two Faroese cohorts assessing the effect of prenatal mercury exposure in 7 year old children Dr. Esben Budtz-Jorgensen (University of Copenhagen) 31 10:30 - 10:50 Break   10:50 - 11:15 Selenium as a potential protective factor against mercury developmental neurotoxicity Dr. Anna Choi (Harvard School of Public Health) 36 11:15 - 11:40 Lesson from an animal experiment of combined exposure to methylmercury and PCBs on neurobehavioral influences in mice Dr. Norio Sugawara (Tohoku University) 41 11:40 - 12:05 Effects of “spike” (short-term peak) exposure to methylmercury on mercury accumulation and neuronal degeneration in the brain Dr. Shun’ichi Honda (National Institute for Minamata Disease) 54 12:05 - 13:05 Lunch   Afternoon Session Moderators: Dr. Philippe Grandjean (University of South Denmark) Dr. Antero Aitio (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Ex-WHO)   13:15 - 13:40 Correlations between mercury concentrations in umbilical cord tissue and other biomarkers of fetal exposure to methylmercury in Japanese population Dr. Mineshi Sakamoto (National Institute for Minamata Disease) 65 13:40 - 14:05 Imprecision of cord tissue mercury and other biomarkers of prenatal methylmercury exposure, and the implications for exposure limits Dr. Philippe Grandjean (University of South Denmark) 76 14:05 - 14:30 Effects of breast feeding on neuropsychological development in a community with methylmercury exposure from seafood Dr. Tina Jensen (University of South Denmark) 90 14:30 - 14:55 Tohoku study of child development, a cohort study to examine the effects of perinatal exposure to methylmercury, PCB or dioxins on child development; the association of neonatal neurobehavioral status with maternal hair mercury concentration and fish intake Dr. Keita Suzuki (Tohoku University) 97 14:45 - 15:15 Break   15:15 - 15:40 Neuromotor dysfunction in patients with fetal Minamata disease Dr. Katsuyuki Murata (Akita University) 106 15:40 - 16:05 Retrospective assessment of prenatal exposure to methylmercury from whaling records Ms. Maria Skaalum (University of South Denmark) 110 16:05 - 16:35 IPCS assessments of the risks from exposure to methylmercury Dr. Antero Aitio (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Ex-WHO) Dr. Tim Meredith (WHO) 116 Closing Session   16:35 - 16:50 Closing remarks Dr. Tim Meredith (WHO)