Mercury transport and human exposure from global marine fisheries.

Human activities have increased the global circulation of mercury, a potent neurotoxin. Mercury can be converted into methylmercury, which biomagnifies along aquatic food chains and leads to high exposure in fish-eating populations. Here we quantify temporal trends in the ocean-to-land transport of total mercury and methylmercury from fisheries and we estimate potential human mercury intake through fish consumption in 175 countries.

Importance of elemental mercury in lake sediments.

Mercury (Hg) redox changes in sediments are poorly studied and understood, even though they potentially control Hg availability for methylation and can alter sediment-water Hg exchange. Elemental Hg (Hg(0)) concentrations in sediments of two Canadian Shield lakes were assessed by thermodesorption. Hg(0) concentrations in sediments varied between 6.