Elemental mercury has been imbued with magical properties for millennia, and various cultures use elemental mercury in a variety of superstitious and cultural practices, raising health concerns for users and residents in buildings where it is used. As a first step in assessing this phenomenon, we compared mercury vapor concentration in common areas of residential buildings versus outdoor air, i...

The superionic conductor Cu2−δSe has been shown to be a promising thermoelectric at higher temperatures because of very low lattice thermal conductivities, attributed to the liquid-like mobility of copper ions in the superionic phase. In this work, we present the potential of copper selenide to achieve a high figure of merit at room temperature, if the intrinsically high hole carrier concentrat...

Methylmercury contamination of the environment is an important issue globally, and birds are useful bioindicators for mercury monitoring programs. The available data on mercury contamination of birds in western North America were synthesized. Original data from multiple databases were obtained and a literature review was conducted to obtain additional mercury concentrations. In total, 29219 ori...

To further enhance the efficiency and potential of plants for phytoremediation of mercury pollution, a genetically engineered tobacco to simultaneously express mercury transporter, mercury transporter (MerT) and mercury chelator, polyphosphate (polyP) was constructed by integrating bacterial merT gene in polyphosphate kinase gene (ppk)-transgenic tobacco, and its ability to phytoremediate mercu...

Earlier, we reported that mercury, the environmental risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, activates vascular endothelial cell (EC) phospholipase D (PLD). Here, we report the novel and significant finding that calcium and calmodulin regulated mercury-induced PLD activation in bovine pulmonary artery ECs (BPAECs). Mercury (mercury chloride, 25 microM; thimerosal, 25 microM; methylmercury, 10 ...

background: contagion of aquatic ecosystems to heavy metals especially mercury (hg) has risen concerns about healthiness of marine organisms. organic mercury compounds are highly toxic for animals, and its detection in various samples is frequently needed. in present study we have described a new method for measurement of organic mercury and total mercury concentration in great cormorants (phal...

We determined mercury concentrations in tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, from Massachusetts and Maine with different levels of contamination. Baseline and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations from adults and nestlings (Massachusetts only) were compared with mercury concentrations. In Massachusetts, adult baseline corticosterone was negatively correlated with blood mercury, but...

Mercury is found in the environment as elemental mercury, inorganic mercury or organic mercury (ethyl-, methyl-, alkyl-, or phenylmercury). In our environment it is present in thermometers, thermostats, dental amalgams, paint, cosmetic products, laxatives, diuretics and antiseptics. Organic mercury is the most toxic and most frequent form of mercury exposure, found in fish, poultry, pesticides ...

Mercury is a potent toxicant of concern to both the general public and occupationally exposed workers (e.g., dentists). Recent studies suggest that several genes mediating the toxicokinetics of mercury are polymorphic in humans and may influence inter-individual variability in mercury accumulation. This work hypothesizes that polymorphisms in key glutathione synthesizing enzyme, glutathione S-t...

normal 0 false false false en-us x-none ar-sa according to the world health organization (who), factors such as growing electricity demand, ever-advancing technologies and changes in social behaviour have led to steadily increasing exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields.   dental amalgam fillings are among the major sources of exposure to elemental mercury vapour in the general population....