Methylmercury is a toxic form of mercury which persists in food webs for long periods of time and biomagnifies up successive trophic levels. Shorebirds breeding in the Arctic are exposed to methylmercury, derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources, when they ingest their invertebrate prey. Populations of many shorebird species are believed to be declining and one hypothesis for these d...

BACKGROUND We suggest that the need to account for systematic error may explain the apparent lack of agreement among studies of maternal dietary methylmercury exposure and neuropsychological testing outcomes in children, a topic of ongoing debate. METHODS These sensitivity analyses address the possible role of systematic error on reported associations between low-level prenatal exposure to me...

There is ample evidence identifying lead, methylmercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as neurotoxic agents. A large body of data on the neurotoxicity of lead, based on both epidemiologic studies in children and animal models of developmental exposure, reveals that body burdens of lead typical of people in industrialized environments produce behavioral impairment. Methylmercury was ident...

Depth variations of total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were obtained in cores from nonvegetated sediments, sediments colonized by Sarcocornia fruticosa, Halimione portulacoides, and Spartina maritima and below-ground biomass in three Portuguese estuaries. Similar analyses were also performed on the above-ground plant tissues. Concentrations in below-ground biomass exceed...

In the relatively pristine ecosystem in Kejimkujik Park, Nova Scotia, methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in loons, Gavia immer, are among the highest recorded anywhere in the world. This study investigated the influence of bedrock lithology on MeHg concentrations in wetlands. Twenty-five different wetland field sites were sampled over four different bedrock lithologies; Kejimkujik monzogranite...

Post Minamata incident there has been awareness about mercury toxicity even among the general public. Previous researches contributed a vast amount of data regarding acute mercury exposure, but gradually information about the low dose [Ninomiya, T., Ohmori, H., Hashimoto, K., Tsuruta, K., Ekino, S., 1995. Expansion of methylmercury poisoning outside minamata: an epidemiological study on chronic...

CONTEXT Fish (finfish or shellfish) may have health benefits and also contain contaminants, resulting in confusion over the role of fish consumption in a healthy diet. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION We searched MEDLINE, governmental reports, and meta-analyses, supplemented by hand reviews of references and direct investigator contacts, to identify reports published through April 2006 evaluating (1) int...

BACKGROUND The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, which are present in fish, are protective against myocardial infarction. However, fish also contains methylmercury, which influences the risk of myocardial infarction, possibly by generating oxidative stress. Methylmercury is metabolized by conjugation to glutathione, which facilitates elimination. Gl...