The heavy metal mercury is a known toxin, but while the mechanisms involved in mercury toxicity have been well demonstrated in vertebrates, little is known about toxicological effects of this metal in invertebrates. Here, we present the results of our study investigating the effects associated with exposure of fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to inorganic mercury (HgCl2 ). We quantify survival...

The aim of this study was to examine the experimental uptake of mercury and the enzymatic response, i.e., glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, to this metal introduced into the medium under organic (methylmercury chloride) and nonorganic (mercury chloride) forms. Shoots of Posidonia oceanica were collected in a nonpolluted area in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea and were treated in aqua...

The objective of this paper is to provide an analysis of particulate metal emissions in the USA. The analysis will identify natural and industrial sources, environmental standards, emission trends, and controls of particulate emissions. Since the majority of airborne metal emissions originate from metal industries and electric utility facilities, environmental and worker assessments of exposure...

Heavy metals are, unfortunately, present in the air, water, and food supply. Cases of severe acute lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium poisoning are rare; however, when they do occur an effective, non-toxic treatment is essential. In addition, chronic, low-level exposure to lead in the soil and in residues of lead-based paint, to mercury in the atmosphere, in dental amalgams and in seafood, and...

The heavy metal mercury elicits a genetically restricted autoantibody response in mice that targets the nucleolar autoantigen fibrillarin. HgCl2-induced cell death of macrophages resulted in the proteolytic cleavage of fibrillarin. A prominent feature of mercury-induced cell death was the generation of a 19-kDa fragment of fibrillarin that was not found following apoptotic or nonapoptotic cell ...

Metal toxicity has been identified as a possible risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative disorders. We conducted a retrospective chart review of urinary, hair and blood metal levels and serum ferritin in 321 people with ALS seen over a ten-year period at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). We found that hair lead levels and serum ferritin levels wer...

Physical system conceptual models are developed to illustrate the various interconnecting pathways of metal flow. Economic use of mercury and cadmium, as representative toxic heavy metals, is inventoried, and the losses of each from the pathways of economic use are compared. Distinctions are made between high volume consumers and industries that are responsible for a large percent of total emis...

Mercury impacts the function and development of the central nervous system in both humans and wildlife by being a potent neurotoxin. Microbial bioremediation is an important means of remediation of mercury-contaminated soil. The rhizospheric Photobacterium halotolerans strain MELD1 was isolated from mercury and dioxin contaminated site from Tainan, Taiwan. It has been shown to reduce Hg(2+) to ...

In the title mercury complex, catena-poly[[di-chlorido-mercury(II)]-μ-2,2'-(2-bromo-5-tert-butyl-1,3-phenyl-ene)bis-(1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole)-κ2N3:N3'], [HgCl2(C26H25BrN4)] n , the HgII atom is coordinated by two Cl atoms and by two N atoms from two 2,2'-(2-bromo-5-tert-butyl-1,3-phenyl-ene)bis-(1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole) ligands. The metal cation adopts a distorted tetrahedral coordination g...