Blood organic mercury (i.e., methyl mercury) concentrations among 1,709 women who were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 1999 and 2000 (1999-2000 NHANES) were 0.6 microg/L at the 50th percentile and ranged from concentrations that were nondetectable (5th percentile) to 6.7 microg/L (95th percentile). Blood organic/methyl mercury reflects methyl mer...

Intestinal flora plays an important role in the decomposition and fecal excretion of methylmercury. The assumed mechanism is that decomposition of organic mercury (o-Hg) to inorganic mercury (i-Hg) by intestinal flora in cecum decreases the reabsorption of mercury in large intestines. To confirm this hypothesis, we examined the large intestinal mercury absorption in vitro from intestinal conten...

Organic matter isolated from the Florida Everglades caused a dramatic increase in mercury release (up to 35 μM total dissolved mercury) from cinnabar (HgS), a solid with limited solubility. Hydrophobic (a mixture of both humic and fulvic) acids dissolved more mercury than hydrophilic acids and other nonacid fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Cinnabar dissolution by isolated organic ma...

In recent years, the Coastal Water Research Project has conducted surveys of the distribution of certain trace substances in sediments around the major municipal wastewater outfalls off southern California. Because of high levels of heavy metals found in sediments near Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts outfall system off Whites Point in 1970, detailed surveys of the Palos Verdes shelf wer...

Thimerosal, which releases the ethyl mercury radical as the active species, has been used as a preservative in many currently marketed vaccines throughout the world. Because of concerns that its toxicity could be similar to that of methyl mercury, it is no longer incorporated in many vaccines in the United States. There are reasons to believe, however, that the disposition and toxicity of ethyl...

To assess the impact of elevated levels of inorganic mercury in soil and dust and organic mercury in fish, biological monitoring was conducted among Native Americans living next to an inactive mercury mine in Clear Lake, California. Of resident tribal members, 46% (n = 56) participated in biomonitoring. Urine mercury levels are equivalent to background, indicating that soil and dust exposures a...

Mercury is a toxic heavy metal released into the environment from both natural and anthropogenic sources. It is of great interest to consumers as to whether it can cause neurological effects at low dose levels. The effects of organic mercury exposure at high levels have been demonstrated in several large-scale poisonings, particularly those in Japan and Iraq in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. These e...

Clinical manifestations of chronic exposure to organic mercury usually have a gradual onset. As the primary target is the nervous system, chronic mercury exposure can cause symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, headache, and poor recall and concentration. In severe cases chronic exposure leads to intellectual deterioration and neurologic abnormality. Recent outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephal...

heavy metals, in particular mercury, are important for the public health due to their toxicity and endurance in the environment. in the present study, the distribution of mercury was surveyed along the coast of the caspian sea (mazandaran province). twelve stations were selected and from each station 5 samples were randomly collected followed by chemical analyses. an inverse weight-distance met...

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal, which can exist in several forms. Metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white, odorless liquid, which forms a colorless, odorless gas if heated. Mercury combines with other elements such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen to form inorganic mercury compounds or salts, which are usually white solids. Mercury also combines with carbon to make organic mercury compo...