Ana María Abréu Vélez, Gunnar Warfvinge, Walter Leon Herrera, Clara Eugenia Abréu Vélez, Fernando Montoya M, David M Hardy, Wendy B Bollag, Ken Hashimoto
A novel variant of endemic pemphigus foliaceus (EPF) was described among individuals in an area surrounding El Bagre, Colombia, South America. The population in this rural mining community is exposed to high environmental levels of mercury, used for gold extraction, as well as other minerals, metalloids, and trace elements (e.g., quartz, rutile, granite, magnetite, and almenite) and ultraviolet radiation. Fifty control subjects and fifty EPF patients in the endemic area were examined for the presence of mercury in skin biopsies and hair, using autometallographic and mass spectroscopic analyses, respectively...
October 2003: American Journal of Dermatopathology