Several metals have toxic actions on nerve cells and neurobehavorial functioning. These toxic actions can be expressed either as developmental effects or as an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases in old age. The major metals causing neurobehavioral effects after developmental exposure are lead and methylmercury. Lead exposure in young children results in a permanent loss of IQ of appro...

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...

As the concentration of methylmercury (MeHg) in the environment is insignificant, hair can be used as a suitable matrix to estimate endogenous MeHg exposure. Avalidated analytical method with AMA 254 spectrometer was used for the determination of inorganic mercury and methylmercury species in the hair of dentists, workers in fish industry and professionally non-exposed adults. ANOVA and QC Expe...

A simple flow-injection system, suitable for solution flow rates at microliters-per-minute, has been combined with fast-scan voltammetry for selective determination of methylmercury. A thin Hg film was formed at a Pt microelectrode prior to the measurement. Detection of methylmercury is carried out by measuring the oxidation of methylmercury radicals that have been generated at the Hg microelec...