Mercury is a potent neurotoxin for humans, particularly if the metal is in the form of methylmercury. Mercury is widely distributed in aquatic ecosystems as a result of anthropogenic activities and natural earth processes. A first step toward bioaccumulation of methylmercury in aquatic food webs is the methylation of inorganic forms of the metal, a process that is primarily mediated by anaerobi...

Methylmercury is a toxic substance which accumulates in fish and other biota and causes toxicological problems when consumed by humans. Certain mercury resistant bacteria are able to convert the highly toxic methylmercury to a much less toxic form. Several mer operons, a group of genes which encode this function, have been cloned and characterized. However, they have been isolated and cloned fr...

FOREWORD This report provides recommended guidelines for consumption of fish from Lake Pillsbury (Lake County). These guidelines are provided to the public as a result of findings of high levels of mercury in fish tested from Lake Pillsbury. These recommendations are provided to protect against possible adverse health effects that may result from consumption of mercury-contaminated fish. The re...

Natural Sciences[1] Natural Sciences[1]Fish [2]Reproductive health [3]Norway [4]Forskning.no [5] Although experimented on zebrafish, the researchers believe the results are applicable to humans. It has been previously shown that selenium can protect from the toxic effects mercury (Hg) has to the nervous system. However, little is known about how they interact in reproduction. In a recently publ...

This study aimed to investigate and discuss the occurrence and accumulation of mercury in the fruiting bodies of wild-growing fungi (Macromycetes) collected from montane forests in two regions of southwestern China with differences in soil geochemistry, climate and geographical conditions. Fungal mycelia in soils of the subalpine region of the Minya Konka (Gongga Mountain) in Sichuan and in the...

Diurnal patterns for dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) concentration, mercury flux, several water variables (pH, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), water temperature), and meteorological variables (wind speed, air temperature, % relative humidity, solar radiation) were measured in two lakes with contrasting dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in Kejimkujik Park, Nova Scotia. A continu...

The speciation of mercury is currently attracting widespread interest because the emission, transport, deposition and behaviour of toxic mercury species depend on its chemical form. The identification of these species in low concentrations is no easy task and it is even more complex in coal combustion products due to the fact that these products contain organic and mineral matter that give rise...

Anthropogenic practices and recycling in the environment through natural processes result in release of potentially harmful levels of mercury into the biosphere. Mercury, especially organic forms, accumulates in the food chain. Mercury reacts readily with sulfur-containing compounds and often exists as a thiol S-conjugate, such as the l-cysteine (Cys)-S-conjugate of methylmercury (CH(3)Hg-S-Cys...

As a result of rapid industrialization several chemical forms of organic and inorganic mercury are constantly introduced to the environment and affect humans and animals directly. All forms of mercury have toxic effects; therefore accurate measurement of mercury is of prime importance especially in suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected through high volume sampler (HVS). In the quantifica...

To evaluate the environmental impacts from large scale mercury mining (LSMM) and artisanal mercury mining (AMM), total mercury (THg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) were determined in mine waste, ambient air, stream water and soil samples collected from Wuchuan mercury (Hg) mining area, Guizhou, Southwestern China. Mine wastes from both LSMM and AMM contained high THg concentrations, which are import...