Methylmercury (MeHg) is an organic form of mercury that can damage the developing brains of human fetuses. Women who consume methylmercury during pregnancy [2] can bear children who have neurological issues because methylmercury has toxic effects on the nervous system during embryonic development. During the third week of gestation [3], the human nervous system begins to form in the embryo. Dur...

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an organic form of mercury that can damage the developing brains of human fetuses. Women who consume methylmercury during pregnancy [2] can bear children who have neurological issues because methylmercury has toxic effects on the nervous system during embryonic development. During the third week of gestation [3], the human nervous system begins to form in the embryo. Dur...

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an organic form of mercury that can damage the developing brains of human fetuses. Women who consume methylmercury during pregnancy [2] can bear children who have neurological issues because methylmercury has toxic effects on the nervous system during embryonic development. During the third week of gestation [3], the human nervous system begins to form in the embryo. Dur...

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a persistent pollutant with known neurotoxic effects. We have previously shown that astrocytes accumulate MeHg and play a prominent role in mediating MeHg toxicity in the central nervous system (CNS) by altering glutamate signaling, generating oxidative stress, depleting glutathione (GSH) and initiating lipid peroxidation. Interestingly, all of these pathways can be regu...

BACKGROUND Many people, by means of consumption of seafood or other anthropogenic sources, are exposed to levels of methylmercury (MeHg) that are generally considered to be quite low, but that may nevertheless produce irreversible brain damage, particularly in unborn babies. The only way to prevent or ameliorate MeHg toxicity is to enhance its elimination from the body. OBJECTIVES Using N-ace...

Methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation in marine food webs poses risks to fish-consuming populations and wildlife. Here we develop and test an estuarine mercury cycling model for a coastal embayment of the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Mass budget calculations reveal that MeHg fluxes into sediments from settling solids exceed losses from sediment-to-water diffusion and resuspension. Although measured met...

Mercury in both organic and inorganic forms is neurotoxic. Methylmercury (MeHg) is a commonly encountered form of mercury in the environment. Early electrophysiological experiments revealed that MeHg potently affects the release of neurotransmitter from presynaptic nerve terminals. Recently, the hypothesis that these alterations may be mediated by changes in the intracellular concentration of C...

Rapid growth could significantly reduce methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in aquatic organisms by causing a greater than proportional gain in biomass relative to MeHg (somatic growth dilution). We hypothesized that rapid growth from the consumption of high-quality algae, defined by algal nutrient stoichiometry, reduces MeHg concentrations in zooplankton, a major source of MeHg for lake fish. ...

From 2000 to 2004, we sampled for total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in inlet streams to Lake Champlain, targeting high flow periods to capture increases in THg and MeHg concentrations with increasing flow. We used these data to model stream THg and MeHg fluxes for Water Years 2001 through 2009. In this mountainous forested basin with a high watershed-to-lake area ratio of 18, fluvial...

The fate and transport of methylmercury (MeHg) were studied in a small boreal catchment. Hydrological processes largely govern the magnitude of the flux of MeHg. Seasonal and inter-annual variability in hydrology produce variable source strengths of MeHg throughout the catchment. The mass flux of MeHg within, and from the catchment is dependent on the mass flux of water and the relative placeme...