This study used ethnographic methods to examine the perception of mercury contamination by adolescents in the mining community of Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil. In Phase I, 53 students aged 13 to 16 years in six schools presented theatrical sketches about community health risks to generate key terms for a pile sorting activity in Phase II. Mercury was reported by four of the 15 groups (26%). In P...

Feathers have been widely used to assess mercury contamination in birds as they reflect metal concentrations accumulated between successive moult periods: they are also easy to sample and have minimum impact on the study birds. Moult is considered the major pathway for mercury excretion in seabirds. Penguins are widely believed to undergo a complete, annual moult during which they do not feed. ...

Mercury concentrations were measured in feathers oflittle egret and night heron chicks and in their prey in the Axios Delta,Greece. Significantly higher concentrations occurred in night heron than inlittle egret in 1993. In the night heron the mercury content of feathers wasnegatively correlated to the size of chicks, possibly due to inhibition ofgrowth. Mercury concentrations were higher than ...

Molluscs (particularly bivalves) and fish are usually proposed as good bioindicators for environmental contamination of marine ecosystems. Different steps can be recognized when assessing such contamination. The first approach consists of comparing stable residue concentrations determined in various environments or different periods. In this chapter, this is illustrated for heavy metals in biva...

BACKGROUND Concern has recently emerged regarding the safety of natural health products (NHPs)-therapies that are increasingly recommended by various health providers, including conventional physicians. Recognizing that most individuals in the Western world now consume vitamins and many take herbal agents, this study endeavored to determine levels of toxic element contamination within a range o...

Mercury is a serious neurotoxic agent, and the control monitoring of emissions are important. Optical spectroscopy powerful technique for measurement mercury, which in atmosphere predominantly appears atomic form. The mercury resonance line close to 254 nm can be utilized long-path absorption measurements average concentrations or light detection ranging (lidar) studies, where range-resolved co...

The status of the contamination of Dutch marine harbor sediments was reevaluated after a period in which emissions from point sources had been greatly reduced. Data on sediment chemistry from 1999 and 2000 were assessed against screening levels (SLs) selected from available sediment quality guidelines and representing a low probability of adverse biological effects. This yielded a ranking of th...

         According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is among one of ten substances that represent a significant health problem. Contamination environment with and its compounds possible through natural artificial ways from ill-conceived or deliberate actions. These include human consumption mercury-contaminated seafood fumes released during...

Two events during the last decade had major environmental repercussions in Almadén town (Spain). First it was the ceasing of activities in the mercury mine and metallurgical facilities in 2003, and then the finalization of the restoration works on the main waste dump in 2008. The combination of both events brought about a dramatic drop in the emissions of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) to the ...

FOREWORD This report provides recommended guidelines for consumption of fish from Lake Pillsbury (Lake County). These guidelines are provided to the public as a result of findings of high levels of mercury in fish tested from Lake Pillsbury. These recommendations are provided to protect against possible adverse health effects that may result from consumption of mercury-contaminated fish. The re...