Mercury in the aquatic environment: a review of factors affecting methylation
Mercury in the aquatic environment: a review of factors affecting methylation
Mercury is one of the most hazardous contaminants that may be present in the aquatic environment, but its ecological and toxicological effects are strongly dependent on the chemical species present. Species distribution and transformation processes in natural aquatic systems are controlled by various physical, chemical, and biological factors. Depending on the prevailing environmental conditions, inorganic mercury species may be converted to many times more toxic methylated forms such as methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin that is readily accumulated by aquatic biota. Despite a considerable amount of literature on the subject, the behavior of mercury and many of the transformation and distribution mechanisms operating in the natural aquatic environment are still poorly understood. This review examines the current state of knowledge on the physicochemical behavior of mercury in the aquatic environment, and in particular the environmental factors influencing its transformation into highly toxic methylated forms.
methylmercury, speciation, environmental transformation, bioaccumulation
241-293
Ullrich, Susanne M.
c42f5249-f43d-4536-8f2d-19871247cd09
Tanton, Trevor W.
0f6a361e-394f-4cfc-94a6-5311442ae366
Abdrashitova, Svetlana A.
19581523-f87e-417e-a648-d36ded4793f4
2001
Ullrich, Susanne M.
c42f5249-f43d-4536-8f2d-19871247cd09
Tanton, Trevor W.
0f6a361e-394f-4cfc-94a6-5311442ae366
Abdrashitova, Svetlana A.
19581523-f87e-417e-a648-d36ded4793f4
Ullrich, Susanne M., Tanton, Trevor W. and Abdrashitova, Svetlana A.
(2001)
Mercury in the aquatic environment: a review of factors affecting methylation.
Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 31 (3), .
(doi:10.1080/20016491089226).
Abstract
Mercury is one of the most hazardous contaminants that may be present in the aquatic environment, but its ecological and toxicological effects are strongly dependent on the chemical species present. Species distribution and transformation processes in natural aquatic systems are controlled by various physical, chemical, and biological factors. Depending on the prevailing environmental conditions, inorganic mercury species may be converted to many times more toxic methylated forms such as methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin that is readily accumulated by aquatic biota. Despite a considerable amount of literature on the subject, the behavior of mercury and many of the transformation and distribution mechanisms operating in the natural aquatic environment are still poorly understood. This review examines the current state of knowledge on the physicochemical behavior of mercury in the aquatic environment, and in particular the environmental factors influencing its transformation into highly toxic methylated forms.
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Published date: 2001
Additional Information:
This paper in a prestigeous journal is an extensive comprehensive review and analysis of the state of the art of the behaviour of mercury in the aquatic environment. It has become a key reference paper within this complex subject with +90 citations, making it one of the top 4 most highly cited articles published in this journal over the past decade.
Keywords:
methylmercury, speciation, environmental transformation, bioaccumulation
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Local EPrints ID: 39381
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/39381
ISSN: 1547-6537
PURE UUID: 99e9b302-b781-4f46-9bbb-cc7867baccf8
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Date deposited: 28 Jun 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 08:12
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Author:
Susanne M. Ullrich
Author:
Svetlana A. Abdrashitova
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