Methyl Mercury Research Paper

When mercury enters the environment from emissions in the air, water or soil, it oxidises into other compounds of mercury. Both mercury and its compounds have high acute (short-term) and have high chronic (long-term) toxicity on aquatic life. Eating fish contaminated with mercury has caused poisoning in humans; birds and land animals exposed in the same manner could also be subject to the same effects. Mercury and its compounds are highly persistent in water and the environment and will bio accumulate or concentrate in the tissues of fish. These concentrations will be considerably higher than the water from which the fish is taken. Mercury chloride will act as a particle, following wind patterns, and being deposited by rain. Elemental mercury may be a gas in the atmosphere. Emissions of mercury and or mercury compounds can produce elevated, but still low-level concentrations in the atmosphere around the source. Elemental mercury can

Effects on the local Great Lake biosphere have accumulations of toxins within the food chain. For instance, fish. Consuming a large amount of fish exposed to these toxic chemicals can expose you to DDT, dioxin, and PCVs, these chemicals are known for being carcinogenic, and can cause neurological disorders and a weakened immune system. Being exposed to the Water by swimming can also cause immune problems if swallowed. These chemicals also are known for causing skin cancer if exposed to the external body.

For instance, certain seafoods are known to have high concentrations of mercury. The same can be found inside of certain dental fillings, such as silver fillings or mercury amalgrams.

As already stated, many other locations around the world are affected by mercury poisoning and contamination. For example, Canada and Japan have an extensive history of mercury poisoning, including neurologic symptoms and contaminated fish. These studies have has been documented since the 1950’s in these locations. In fact, the contamination became so problematic the Ontario health department formed a task force on organic mercury in 1972. Further, recent protesting throughout Toronto has asked for Canada to address the contamination of mercury. Findings revealed levels of mercury exceeding those of international standards and included the highest recorded mercury contamination among in the western part of the world. (CITE 6)

Mercury is an element that can be found in our environment through air, water and soil. Being exposed to constant levels of mercury may be detrimental to one’s overall health since it can impact the nervous, digestive and immune systems of human (WHO). In 1960, the demand of Mercury (Hg) increased significantly as it was needed in many commercial and medical practices, despite its high toxicity levels (dwivedi). Thus, the increase in mercury consumption was due to industrialization. Mercury should be gaining increased medical concerns as it can impact the lives of several classes of society. In Canada, it is found that the vast majority of marine mammals contain methylmercury (MeHg) (Laird). Methylmercury is highly more lethal than Mercury

Whales have a distressing increase in assimilating cancer, along with getting other illnesses like nervous and digestive system problems, liver disease, contaminant-induced immunosuppression, endocrine system damage, reproductive malformations, and growth and development issues, all because of ocean pollution (Bluevoice.org). According to “The Effects of Ocean Pollution on Marine Mammals”, by Bob Bohle, it states, “...from overfishing to greenhouse gases and global warming to the introduction of toxins into the environment – has affected every square mile of ocean on the planet and strongly impacted roughly 40 percent of marine ecosystems.” This shows far ocean pollution has come. As stated before, humans are now catching the effects of ocean pollution. Toxins from plastic and mercury that end up in fish, are entering the human food chain, which are now being linked to cancers, birth defects, immune system problems, and childhood development issues (Gianna Andrews,

Bacteria and chemical reactions in lakes and wetlands change the mercury into a much more toxic form known as methyl mercury. Fish become contaminated with methyl mercury by eating food, which has absorbed methyl mercury. The environment is at a serious risk because of the levels of mercury in our water supply. Mercury will contaminate the fish and other wild life around the tainted water

The Clean Water Act lists the SFBay as impaired for mercury. Estimates suggest the bay’s sediment is contaminated with about two hundred metric tons of mercury, much going back to original Gold Rush. This pollutant has affected SFBay biota resulting in a state issued fish advisory waning not to eat some common fish such as Striped bass and limited intake of other species (OEHHA, 2011; Ely & Viani, 2010).

Mercury is categorized as a nephrotoxin and neurotoxin. Mercury is commonly found in fluorescent light bulbs, electronics, fungicides, and medical equipment [2]. The main focus of this study in mercury is due to the large segments of the population commonly exposed to dental amalgams [3], vaccines [4], seafood [5-7], and formation of the global pollutant, such as geologic deposits of mercury released into the atmosphere.

1. It is a common belief in certain cultures that shark fins have health benefits, when in reality that’s not true. With increasing levels of pollution entering into the oceans it’s known that sharks absorb the pollution which create an unsafe level of mercury for humans to consume. Scientists at the University of Miami recently conducted a study to test the concentrations of two toxins- mercury and β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) – in 10 different sharks species located in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (“Study Finds High Level of Neurotoxins,” 2016). Deborah Mash, the senior author of the study and a Professor of Neurology stated, “Recent studies have linked BMAA to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),” Contrary to cultures that believe shark fins contain health benefits, it’s been proven that there’s a direct link between consumption of shark meat to neurodegenerative diseases. The evidence provided above proves to the earlier statement that there are no health benefits, and that in fact, it may cause a increase damage to human health.

Mercury is a heavy metal from group 12 of the periodic table, along with Zn and Cd. Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed contaminant that can harm human and wildlife health. It is currently one of the most serious contaminants in water.

When “inorganic” mercury comes in contact with water, a chemical reaction occurs, converting the mercury to “methylated mercury”, which builds-up in any animal who consumes or absorbs it, while subsequently poisoning them. Finally there is cadmium, a chemical which, when ingested, does not easily digest, usually remaining in the liver. This causes it to accumulate over time, also causing damage as time passes. The impact of consumed cadmium is dependent on how much the substance has accumulated and where it resides within the body. Electronic components are composed of a variety of chemicals or substances that have proven harmful toward people and the environment, and should be disposed of properly and with great care as to ensure that they

Treatment of mercury toxicity depends on the form of mercury the individual is exposed to. When treating for any toxicity most times is hard to determine the length of time the person was exposed or how much of the toxin the person was exposed to etc, as a result of the gap between vital information the treatment of mercury toxicity is approached using what is called the ABCs method. The ABCs method employs supportive care of the airway, breathe, and circulation. This method is especially use when one is exposed by inhalation of mercury. Patients who are exposed to mercury through the skin, the irrigation method are use. For ingestion of inorganic mercury, the patient has to be kept hydrated; the patient stomach can be pumped, medically called

In this experiment, methyl benzoate was synthesized from benzoic acid and methanol with acid catalyze using Fisher Esterification. First benzoic acid and methanol were mixed in 100 mL round bottom flask. We cooled the mixture in ice and poured 3 mL of conc. H2SO4 and swirled to mix compounds. Then we refluxed the mixture for 1 hour. We let the solution cool and then decanted into a separatory funnel containing 50 mL of water and rinsed the round bottom flask with 35 mL of tert-butyl methyl ether and added that to a separatory funnel. We shook and vented thoroughly and drained the aqueous layer which contained a bulk of methanol and H2SO4. We washed the solution in the separatory funnel with 25 mL of water, followed by 25 mL of sat. sodium bicarbonate

The article describes briefly how the mercury ends up in the fish we eat, how the rain grabs the mercury from the atmosphere and deposits it into the lakes and oceans. Because of the food chain, the largest of the aquatic animals will have the highest amount of mercury, whales and sharks for example. So, communities high in whale and shark consumption will show the greatest risk of mercury poisoning.