A model for the bioaccumulation of methyl-mercury in an aquatic ecosystem is described. This model combines predator-prey equations for interactions across three trophic levels with pharmacokinetic equations for toxin elimination at each level. The model considers the inflow and outflow of mercury via tributaries, precipitation, deposition and bacterial methylation to determine the concentratio...

This paper presents a review of recent natural surface mercury exchange research in the context of a new modeling framework. The literature indicates that the mercury biogeochemical flux is more dynamic than the current models predict, with interacting multimedia storage and processes. Although several natural mercury emissions models have been created and incorporated into air quality models (...

The Wisconsin Division of Health investigated mercury exposure in a 40-year-old man, his 42-year-old wife, and their 2.5-year-old son. At the time of our investigation, these individuals had blood mercury levels ranging from 37 to 58 micrograms/L (normal < 5 micrograms/L) and hair samples from the adults contained 10-12 micrograms mercury/g dry weight. A personal interview and home inspection f...

BACKGROUND Dried meat and fish have served as an important durable nutrition source for humans for centuries. Because omega 3 fatty acids in fish are recognized as having antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties found to be beneficial for good health, many consumers are looking to fish as their main source of protein. Unfortunately, contaminants such as methylmercury can accumulate in some ...

Mercury at low concentrations represents a major hazard to microorganisms. Inorganic mercury has been reported to produce harmful e€ects at 5 lg/l in a culture medium. Organomercury compounds can exert the same e€ect at concentrations 10 times lower than this. The organic forms of mercury are generally more toxic to aquatic organisms and birds than the inorganic forms. Aquatic plants are a€ecte...

Total mercury levels were measured in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), "sunfish" (Lepomis spp.), and "catfish" (primarily Ameiurus spp. and Ictalurus punctatus) from 1971 to 2004 in the middle Savannah River (river km 191 to 302), which drains the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S. Total mercury concentrations were higher in largemouth bass (overall mean of 0.55 mg/kg from 1971 to 2...

Many laboratory studies have documented that mercury can be toxic to fish, but it is largely unknown if mercury is toxic to fish in their natural environments. The objective of our study was to investigate the toxic effects of mercury on northern pike (Esox lucius) at Isle Royale, Michigan. In 124 northern pike from eight inland lakes, concentrations of total mercury in skin-on fillets ranged f...

Mercury distribution in the oceans is controlled by complex biogeochemical cycles, resulting in retention of trace amounts of this metal in plants and animals. Inter- and intra-specific variations in mercury levels of predatory pelagic fish have been previously linked to size, age, trophic position, physical and chemical environmental parameters, and location of capture; however, considerable v...

While the bulk of human exposure to mercury is through the consumption of marine fish, most of what we know about mercury methylation and bioaccumulation is from studies of freshwaters. We know little of where and how mercury is methylated in the open oceans, and there is currently a debate whether methylmercury concentrations in marine fish have increased along with global anthropogenic mercur...