Project Description The EERC is performing fundamental research to understand mechanisms responsible for conversion of mercury to other chemical species within combustion and gasification flue gas. This research is imperative for development and validation of improved mercury emission measurement, monitoring, and control. Several tasks are devoted to understanding mercury transformations. Unbur...

Fish and seafood are recommended diet constituents providing high quality protein, vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, mainly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). However, these foodstuffs can also be the major source ofmethylmercury intake in humans. In general, more than 90% of the mercury in fish is found as methylmercury, but contents of methylmercury can vary...

A simple and derivative spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of mercury (II) using Diacetylmonoxime benzoylhydrazone (DMBH). Mercury (II) forms an orange coloured water soluble complex with the reagent in basic medium (pH 10.5).The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity of coloured species are 2.01 x 10 L.mol cm and 0.0099 μg/cm respectively. Beer’s law is ob...

Technology has improved human quality of life but it caused several impacts also, due to the various contaminants released in the environment. Among these contaminants, mercury is a major concern because of its high toxicity and ubiquity in the biosphere, being classified as a global pollutant. It can occur in different forms (i.e. soluble, gaseous or solid) and chemical species (e.g. Methylmer...

The relationship between oxidation stress and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling in pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction remains unclear. Mercury is a well-known toxic metal that induces oxidative stress. Submicromolar-concentration HgCl(2) or methylmercury triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and decreased insulin secretion in beta-cell-derived HIT-T15 cells and isolated mous...

Mercury has a widespread environmental distribution, originating both from anthropogenic and natural processes. Once in the air, mercury can be widely dispersed and transported to longer distances. In the environment mercury can exist in a number of physical and chemical forms with toxicity is well known to be highly dependent on chemical form (Clarkson, 1997). As a consequence, considerable ef...

Lakes in temperate regions stratify during summer and winter months, creating distinct layers of water differentiated by their physical and chemical characteristics. When lakes mix in autumn and spring, mercury cycling may be affected by the chemical changes that occur during mixing. Sampling was conducted in Lake Lacawac, Eastern Pennsylvania, USA, throughout the autumn of 2007 to characterize...

Volatilization of mercury has been observed from various biological media (tissue homogenates, infusion broth, plasma, urine) containing mercuric chloride. That micro-organisms were responsible was indicated by the finding that the rates of volatilization were highly variable, that a latent period often preceded volatilization, that toluene inhibited the process, and that the capacity to volati...

Much of the mercury contamination in aquatic biota originates from coal-fired power plants, point sources that release mercury into the atmosphere. Understanding mercury dynamics is primarily important because of the toxic threat mercury poses to wildlife and humans through the consumption of contaminated fish. In this study, we quantified the relative importance of proximity to coal-fired powe...