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The severe toxicity of methylmercury-contaminated fish which occurred in Minamata (Japan) in the 1950s has revealed the neurotoxic potential of methylmercury and the specific sensitivity of the foetus. Contamination by methylmercury is worldwide, thereby making fish-eating populations particularly vulnerable to its neurotoxic action.Milder neurologic consequences (retarded walking for instance) have been observed in a subsequent toxicity study in Iraq at levels above 10 μg/g in maternal hair. More recent studies in chronically exposed fish-eating populations show coherent results except for the study in the Seychelles Islands. Deficits in the scores on different neuropsychological tests have been observed at levels as low as 4 μg/g in maternal hair.The most conservative standard currently proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency recommends that the weekly intake of methylmercury be limited to 42 μg, especially among pregnant women. This recommendation is easy to follow in metropolitan France, but very likely to be exceeded in some isolated populations in remote French territories. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]