The following macro- and microelements were determined in the leaf of peppermint (Mentha piperitae folium) and nettle (Urticae folium) (as tea bags) and in their infusions: As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, I, Li, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, V and Zn. T

During May–September 1999 human hair samples were collected from the village of Caimito, a fishing community of the state of Sucre (Colombia), in the San Jorge River basin area, and analyzed for total mercury (t-Hg) by cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy. T-Hg was measured in both male and female people aged 15–65 years, whose diet mainly consists of fish collected in nearby marshes. Average hair t-Hg concentration in people from Caimito was 4.91±0.55 μg/g (n=94), similar to the value previously detected in fishermen living in the gold mining area, 50 km east. Males had similar t-Hg concentrations (4.31±0.42 μg/g; n= 56) to females (5.78±1.21 μg/g; n=38) and there was no difference in t-Hg levels between groups of different age. Mercury content in hair was weakly but significantly associated (R=0.20, P=0.05) with fish consumption.