Here, we report about a unique aquatic fungus Mucor hiemalisEH8 that can remove toxic ionic mercury from water by intracellular accumulation and reduction into elemental mercury (Hg0 ). EH8 was isolated from a microbial biofilm grown in sulfidic-reducing spring water sourced at a Marching's site located downhill from hop cultivation areas with a history of mercury use. A thorough biodiversity s...

Biogeochemical cycle of mercury (Hg) is a complicated series of biotic and abiotic reactions, from which formation of monomethylmercury (MeHg) is widely considered as the most important, due to the proven toxicity of MeHg [1]. Organomercury forms have a pronounced capability of bioaccumulation (incorporation in cells and tissues of living organisms) and biomagnification (transport through troph...

8-Hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) was chosen as a powerful ligand for Hg solid phase extraction. Among several chelating resins based on 8-HQ, 5-phenylazo-8-hydroxyquinoline (5Ph8HQ) is used for mercury extraction in which the adsorption dynamics were fully studied. It has been shown that Hg(II) is totally absorbed by 5Ph8HQ within the first 30 minutes of contact time with t 1/2 5 minutes, following La...

A new kinetic method for the determination of Hg(II) based on its inhibitory effect on the Brilliant green-sulfite reaction at pH 6.5 is proposed. The reaction is followed spectrophotometrically at 615 nm by measuring the change in absorbance at the fixed time of 3.5 min after the initiation of the reaction. Both the influence of the reaction variables and the interference of many ions have...

In this study a device for automatic electrochemical analysis was designed. A three electrodes detection system was attached to a positioning device, which enabled us to move the electrode system from one well to another of a microtitre plate. Disposable carbon tip electrodes were used for Cd(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) ion quantification, while Zn(II) did not give signal in this electrode configura...

The impact of mercury (Hg) on human and ecological health has been known for decades. Although a treaty signed in 2013 by 147 nations regulates future large-scale mercury emissions, legacy Hg contamination exists worldwide and small-scale releases will continue. The fate of elemental mercury, Hg(0), lost to the subsurface and its potential chemical transformation that can lead to changes in spe...

BACKGROUND The objective of this work was developing a simple and stable time-based on-line setup for assessing the potential of mercury (Hg) vapor adsorption of the commercial sorbents used in air sampling and control operation followed by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). METHODS A special designed separation chamber was used where reduction of the injected Hg (II) solution...

Penicillinase plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus often contain genes conferring resistance to inorganic mercury (Hg(2+)) and the organomercurial phenylmercury acetate. The mechanism of resistance was found to be the enzymatic hydrolysis of the organomercurial phenylmercury to benzene plus inorganic ionic mercury, which was then enzymatically reduced to metallic mercury (Hg(0)). The Hg(0) was rap...

Atmospheric deposition of Hg(II) represents a major input of mercury to surface environments. The phase of Hg(II) (gas or particle) has important implications for deposition. We use long-term observations of reactive gaseous mercury (RGM, the gaseous component of Hg(II)), particle-bound mercury (PBM, the particulate component of Hg(II)), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and temperature (T ) at ...