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...

Executive Summary This chapter describes atmospheric transport, ambient concentrations and depositions of heavy metals, observed and modelled concentrations and temporal trends of heavy metals in environmental media and biota and comparisons, as appropriate, with effects indicators of significance. It provides, moreover, an assessment of effects on ecosystem and human health from the deposition...

Water transport across cellular membranes is mediated by a family of membrane proteins known as AQPs (aquaporins). AQPs were first discovered on the basis of their ability to be inhibited by mercurial compounds, an experiment which has followed the AQP field ever since. Although mercury inhibition is most common, many AQPs are mercury insensitive. In plants, regulation of AQPs is important in o...

Cutaneous reactions to mercury can manifest themselves in different forms. Apart from contact dermatitis, flare-up reactions, disseminated exanthem as well as skin symptoms in previously unaffected skin are known. Regarding systemic allergen application, 2 separate clinical patterns, namely acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) and symmetric flexural exanthem 'baboon syndrome' have ...

A procedure has been developed to estimate surface water concentrations of toxicants ("wildlife values") that will protect the viability of wildlife populations associated with aquatic resources. This procedure was designed primarily to protect piscivorous birds and mammals from compounds that bioaccumulate in fish and was used in the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative (GLI) to calculate wild...

Florida’s commercial and recreational shark landings represent a significant portion of the total U.S. Atlantic shark landings (NMFS, 1993). Shark landings have increased significantly during the past decade because human consumption of shark meat has become increasingly acceptable and because, in Asian markets, the demand for shark fins is very high— as are the prices paid for them (NMFS, 1993...

We estimated the mass budget for mercury (Hg) seasonally deposited into the Florida Everglades and investigated seasonality of Hg cycling by analyzing data obtained for water, soil, flocculent detrital material (floc), periphyton, and mosquitofish collected throughout the Everglades freshwater marshes in the 2005 dry and wet seasons. Higher wet season total Hg (THg) in soil, floc, and periphyto...

BACKGROUND Mercury is present in the Amazonian aquatic environments from both natural and anthropogenic sources. As a consequence, many riverside populations are exposed to methylmercury, a highly toxic organic form of mercury, because of their intense fish consumption. Many studies have analysed this exposure from different approaches since the early nineties. This review aims to systematize t...

The clinical features of 49 children who had eaten bread contaminated with methylmercury in rural Iraq were reviewed. Symptoms and signs relating to the nervous system-varying degrees of ataxia, weakness, and visual and sensory changes-dominated the clinical picture. The severity of poisoning was related to the blood mercury concentration, as was the degree of recovery. Follow-up over two years...