Methyl Mercury: Critical Groups and Sources of Intake

When 'mercury' is released into the environment it may appear as, or be converted into, any of the following chemical forms: metallic mercury (Hg) inorganic mercury (Hg + and Hg *) monomethyl mercury (CH3 Hg+) dimethyl mercury (CH3 Hg CH3) The 'methyl mercury' discussed in this appendix is monomethyl mercury (CH3 Hg+) 1. Man (a) Adult (i) Occupational exposure lab personnel industrial workers and farmers handling seed dressings workers in pulpmills and sawmills (ii) Non-occupational exposure persons consuming foodstuffs with high methyl mercury levels: dressed seed, game birds, seabird eggs, fish and shellfish, meat (b) Foetus Placental transfer and foetal concentration (Kojima and Fufita 1973) 2. Domestic Animals (a) Cats (Takizawa et al. 1971), from eating contaminated fish and wild birds (b) Pigs, from eating contaminated grain (Pierce et al. 1972) 3. Wildlife