BACKGROUND The continuous exposure to inorganic mercury vapour in artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas leads to chronic health problems. It is therefore essential to have a quick, but reliable risk assessing tool to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication. This study re-evaluates the state-of-the-art toolkit to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication by analysing data ...

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been an important source of income for communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin in Peru for hundreds of years. However, in recent decades, the scale of ASGM activities in the region has increased dramatically, and exposures to a variety of occupational and environmental hazards related to ASGM, including mercury, are becoming more widespread....

The Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), developed for the 2004 MESSENGER mission to Mercury, is designed to measure the planet's topography by laser ranging. A description of the MLA optical system and its measured optical performance during instrument-level and spacecraft-level integration and testing are presented.

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...

in this work, we report results of calculations based on the density functional theory of different species metal-ozone, containing mercury, silver and gold. the chosen species range from small molecules and large transition-metal containing ozone with mercury, silver and gold complexes. a comparative analysis of the description of the metal-oxygen bond obtained by different methodologies is pr...

Background: Mercury (Hg) is considered a global pollutant because Hg0 which is the predominant form of atmospheric Hg resides in the atmosphere for as long as 0.5 to 2 years. Mercury has many negative effects on the reproductive, respiratory, and immune systems. Methods: In this study, 24 Caspian lampreys (Caspiomyzon wagneri) were transported to the university laboratory and then stored in ...

PURPOSE The aim of the study is to assess the cognitive and psychomotor status of 1-year-old infants whose mothers were exposed to low, but varying, amounts of mercury during pregnancy. METHODS Mercury levels in cord and maternal blood at delivery were used to assess prenatal environmental exposure to mercury. Bayley Scales of Infant Development were used to assess neurobehavioral health outc...

Mercury has a widespread environmental distribution, originating both from anthropogenic and natural processes. Once in the air, mercury can be widely dispersed and transported to longer distances. In the environment mercury can exist in a number of physical and chemical forms with toxicity is well known to be highly dependent on chemical form (Clarkson, 1997). As a consequence, considerable ef...

Mercury is a ubiquitous metal contaminant that negatively impacts reproduction of wildlife and has many other sub-lethal effects. Songbirds are sensitive bioindicators of mercury toxicity and may suffer population declines as a result of mercury pollution. Current predictions of mercury accumulation and biomagnification often overlook possible genetic variation in mercury uptake and elimination...

There is increasing concern about the potential neurotoxic effects of exposure to methylmercury for the 6 million people living in the Amazon, even in regions situated far away from the gold mines (garimpos), considered to be the major source of mercury pollution. In November 1998, a spot investigation on mercury contamination was conducted in three fishing villages (Barreiras, Rainha, and Sao ...