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...

BACKGROUND Pregnant women receive mixed messages about fish consumption in pregnancy because unsaturated fatty acids and protein in fish are thought to be beneficial, but contaminants such as methylmercury may pose a hazard. METHODS In the Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Health (POUCH) study, women were enrolled in the 15th to 27th week of pregnancy from 52 prenatal clinics in five Michigan ...

To evaluate the environmental impacts from large scale mercury mining (LSMM) and artisanal mercury mining (AMM), total mercury (THg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) were determined in mine waste, ambient air, stream water and soil samples collected from Wuchuan mercury (Hg) mining area, Guizhou, Southwestern China. Mine wastes from both LSMM and AMM contained high THg concentrations, which are import...

An experimental tree swallow population was established in the headwaters of the Shenandoah River, Virginia, USA to assess the accumulation and effects of mercury contamination on birds that eat emergent aquatic insects. One tributary, the South River, was contaminated with mercury before 1950. Reproductive success of swallows nesting within 50 m of this river was compared to that of three unco...

Cetaceans present a high capacity to accumulate trace elements and have been considered a good bioindicator of contamination. The study assesses the concentration of selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg), as organic mercury (HgOrg) in the liver and kidney of a dolphin incidentally caught in fishing nets along two Brazilian areas (southeast and south). No significant differences were observed in the co...

Mercury amalgamation is used indiscriminately in the recovery of gold by small-scale native gem winners in Ghana. Mercury is released into the environment in the form of wastewater, tailing and vapor from the roasting of amalgam to separate gold. The study looked at the levels of total mercury concentration in surface soil and cassava crop from farms located within the vicinities of Bogoso and ...

Mercury contamination in food can pose serious health risks to consumers and coal-fired power plants have been identified as the major source of mercury emissions. To assess the current state of mercury pollution in food crops grown near coal-fired power plants, we measured the total mercury concentration in vegetables and grain crops collected from farms located near two coal-fired power plant...