French Guiana, like its neighbors, suffers from environmental pollution with methylmercury from gold mining activities, and Amerindian communities are particularly affected. A neurological and a neurospsychological evaluation were carried out in children of three Amerindian communities with various levels of pollution: 156 children from the Upper Maroni (high exposure), 69 from Camopi on the Oy...

In the last century mercury levels in the global environment have tripled as a result of increased pollution from industrial, occupational, medicinal and domestic uses [1]. Glutathione is known to be the main agent responsible for the excretion of mercury (we refer to [41], [38] and [35]). It has also been shown that mercury inhibits glutathione synthetase (an enzyme acting in the synthesizatio...

In the last century mercury levels in the global environment have tripled as a result of increased pollution from industrial, occupational, medicinal and domestic uses [1]. Glutathione is known to be the main agent responsible for the excretion of mercury (we refer to [38], [36] and [34]). It has also been shown that mercury inhibits glutathione synthetase (an enzyme acting in the synthesizatio...

In this study, gas-phase elemental mercury (Hg0) and related species (including inorganic reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and particulate mercury (PHg)) were measured at Cheeka Peak Observatory (CPO), Washington State, in the marine boundary layer during 2001-2002. Air of continental origin containing anthropogenic pollutants from the urban areas to the east contained on average 5.3% lower Hg0 l...

BACKGROUND Industrial activity in Thailand's coastal areas has significantly increased mercury concentrations in seawater, causing accumulation through the food chain. Continuous exposure to mercury has been linked to bioaccumulation in living organisms and potential adverse health effects in children. METHODS Blood samples were collected from 873 schoolchildren aged 6-13 years living in four...

M efforts have been made to reduce sulfur emissions in Europe. Acid rain pollution in Norway has diminished substantially, thanks to the 1979 Geneva Convention on Longrange Transboundary Air Pollution, which was implemented starting in 1983. Parallel with the reduction in acid rain, atmospheric concentrations and deposition of mercury (Hg) have also been reduced. Here, we show that reduced acid...

We studied the mercury contamination of 13 species of seabirds breeding on Bird Island, South Georgia, in 1998. Total mercury concentrations in body feather samples of birds caught at their breeding colonies were determined. Among the species, grey-headed albatross (8933 ng g–1) and southern giant petrel (7774 ng g–1) showed the highest, and gentoo penguin (948 ng g–1) the lowest body feather m...