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Environmental Research Aug 2014Rice cultivation practices from field preparation to post-harvest transform rice paddies into hot spots for microbial mercury methylation, converting less-toxic... (Review)
Review
Rice cultivation practices from field preparation to post-harvest transform rice paddies into hot spots for microbial mercury methylation, converting less-toxic inorganic mercury to more-toxic methylmercury, which is likely translocated to rice grain. This review includes 51 studies reporting rice total mercury and/or methylmercury concentrations, based on rice (Orzya sativa) cultivated or purchased in 15 countries. Not surprisingly, both rice total mercury and methylmercury levels were significantly higher in polluted sites compared to non-polluted sites (Wilcoxon rank sum, p<0.001). However, rice percent methylmercury (of total mercury) did not differ statistically between polluted and non-polluted sites (Wilcoxon rank sum, p=0.35), suggesting comparable mercury methylation rates in paddy soil across these sites and/or similar accumulation of mercury species for these rice cultivars. Studies characterizing the effects of rice cultivation under more aerobic conditions were reviewed to determine the mitigation potential of this practice. Rice management practices utilizing alternating wetting and drying (instead of continuous flooding) caused soil methylmercury levels to spike, resulting in a strong methylmercury pulse after fields were dried and reflooded; however, it is uncertain whether this led to increased translocation of methylmercury from paddy soil to rice grain. Due to the potential health risks, it is advisable to investigate this issue further, and to develop separate water management strategies for mercury polluted and non-polluted sites, in order to minimize methylmercury exposure through rice ingestion.
Topics: Agriculture; Animals; Environmental Exposure; Mercury; Methylmercury Compounds; Oryza
PubMed: 24972509
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.03.001 -
ACS Chemical Neuroscience Jun 2022Mercury is ubiquitous in the environment, with rising levels due to pollution and climate change being a current global concern. Many mercury compounds are notorious for...
Mercury is ubiquitous in the environment, with rising levels due to pollution and climate change being a current global concern. Many mercury compounds are notorious for their toxicity, with the potential of organometallic mercury compounds for devastating effects on the structures and functions of the central nervous system being of particular concern. Chronic exposure of human populations to low levels of methylmercury compounds occurs through consumption of fish and other seafood, although the health consequences, if any, from this exposure remain controversial. We have used high energy resolution fluorescence detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy to determine the speciation of mercury and selenium in human brain tissue. We show that the molecular fate of mercury differs dramatically between individuals who suffered acute organometallic mercury exposure (poisoning) and individuals with chronic low-level exposure from a diet rich in marine fish. For long-term low-level methylmercury exposure from fish consumption, mercury speciation in brain tissue shows methylmercury coordinated to an aliphatic thiolate, resembling the coordination environment observed in marine fish. In marked contrast, for short-term high-level exposure, we observe the presence of biologically less available mercuric selenide deposits, confirmed by X-ray fluorescence imaging, as well as mercury(II)-bis-thiolate complexes, which may be signatures of severe poisoning in humans. These differences between low-level and high-level exposures challenge the relevance of studies involving acute exposure as a proxy for low-level chronic exposure.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Fishes; Food Contamination; Humans; Mercury; Mercury Compounds; Methylmercury Compounds
PubMed: 35543423
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00166 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... May 2022Carbamazepine (CBZ) and Hg are widespread and persistent micropollutants in aquatic environments. Both pollutants are known to trigger similar toxicity mechanisms, e.g....
Carbamazepine (CBZ) and Hg are widespread and persistent micropollutants in aquatic environments. Both pollutants are known to trigger similar toxicity mechanisms, e.g. reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Here, their effects were assessed in the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, frequently used as a freshwater model in ecotoxicology and biomonitoring. Single and co-exposures to CBZ (3.9 μg L) and MeHg (280 ng L) were performed for 1 and 7 days. Metabolomics analyses evidenced that the co-exposure was the most disturbing after 7 days, reducing the amount of 25 metabolites involved in protein synthesis, energy metabolism, antioxidant response and osmoregulation, and significantly altering cells and organelles' structure supporting a reduction of functions of gills and digestive glands. CBZ alone after 7 days decreased the amount of α-aminobutyric acid and had a moderate effect on the structure of mitochondria in digestive glands. MeHg alone had no effect on mussels' metabolome, but caused a significant alteration of cells and organelles' structure in gills and digestive glands. Single exposures and the co-exposure increased antioxidant responses vs control in gills and digestive glands, without resulting in lipid peroxidation, suggesting an increased ROS production caused by both pollutants. Data globally supported that a higher number of hyperactive cells compensated cellular alterations in the digestive gland of mussels exposed to CBZ or MeHg alone, while CBZ + MeHg co-exposure overwhelmed this compensation after 7 days. Those effects were unpredictable based on cellular responses to CBZ and MeHg alone, highlighting the need to consider molecular toxicity pathways for a better anticipation of effects of pollutants in biota in complex environmental conditions.
Topics: Animals; Carbamazepine; Dreissena; Gills; Methylmercury Compounds; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 35122922
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118933 -
Environmental Research Mar 2021Biogeochemical conditions and landscape can have strong influences on mercury bioaccumulation in fish, but these effects across regional scales and between sites with...
Biogeochemical conditions and landscape can have strong influences on mercury bioaccumulation in fish, but these effects across regional scales and between sites with and without point sources of contamination are not well understood. Normal means clustering, a type of unsupervised machine learning, was used to analyze relationships between forage fish (Fundulus heteroclitus and Menidia menidia) mercury (Hg) concentrations and sediment and water column Hg and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations, ancillary variables, and land classifications within the sub-watershed. The analysis utilized data from 38 sites in 8 estuarine systems in the Northeast US, collected over five years. A large range of mercury concentrations and land use proportions were observed across sites. The cluster correlations indicated that for Fundulus, benthic and pelagic Hg and MeHg concentrations were most related to tissue concentrations, while Menidia Hg was most related to water column MeHg, reflecting differing feeding modes between the species. For both species, dissolved MeHg was most related to tissue concentrations, with sediment Hg concentrations influential at contaminated sites. The models considering only uncontaminated sites showed reduced influence of bulk sediment MeHg for both species, but Fundulus retained sediment drivers at some sites, with dissolved MeHg still highly correlated for both. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chlorophyll, land use, and other ancillary variables were of lesser importance in driving bioaccumulation, though DOC was strongly related within some clusters, likely in relation to dissolved Hg. Land use, though not of primary importance, showed relationships opposite to those observed in freshwater, with development positively correlated and forests and agriculture negatively correlated with tissue concentrations across clusters and species. Clusters were composed of sites from geographically distinct systems, indicating the greater importance of small scale drivers of MeHg formation and uptake into the food web over system or region-wide influences.
Topics: Animals; Environmental Monitoring; Estuaries; Fishes; Food Chain; Mercury; Methylmercury Compounds; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 33358725
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110629 -
[Effects of Prenatal Methylmercury Exposure: From Minamata Disease to Environmental Health Studies].Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. Japanese... 2017Methylmercury, the causative agent of Minamata disease, can easily penetrate the brain, and adult-type Minamata disease patients showed neurological symptoms according... (Review)
Review
Methylmercury, the causative agent of Minamata disease, can easily penetrate the brain, and adult-type Minamata disease patients showed neurological symptoms according to the brain regions where the neurons, mainly in the cerebrum and cerebellum, were damaged. In addition, fetuses are exposed to methylmercury via the placenta from maternal fish consumption, and high-level exposure to methylmercury causes damage to the brains of infants. Typical patients with fetal-type Minamata disease (i.e., serious poisoning caused by in utero exposure to methylmercury) were born during the period of severe methylmercury pollution in 1955-1959, although they showed no abnormality during gestation nor at delivery. However, they showed difficulties in head control, sitting, and walking, and showed disturbances in mental development, these symptoms that are similar to those of cerebral palsy, during the growth periods after birth. The impaired development of fetal-type Minamata disease patients was one of the most tragic and characteristic feature of Minamata disease. In this review, we first summarize 1) the effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure in Minamata disease. Then, we introduce the studies that were conducted mainly by Sakamoto et al. as follows: 2) a retrospective study on temporal and regional variations of methylmercury pollution in Minamata area using preserved umbilical cord methylmercury, 3) decline in male sex ratio observed in Minamata area, 4) characteristics of hand tremor and postural sway in fetal-type Minamata disease patients, 5) methylmercury transfer from mothers to infants during gestation and lactation (the role of placenta), 6) extrapolation studies using rat models on the effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure on the human brain, and 7) risks and benefits of fish consumption.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Fetal Diseases; Fishes; Humans; Japan; Maternal Exposure; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Mercury Poisoning, Nervous System; Methylmercury Compounds; Placenta; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats
PubMed: 28931792
DOI: 10.1265/jjh.72.140 -
Environmental Health Perspectives Apr 1993In the past, methylmercury compounds were manufactured as fungicides or appeared as unwanted byproducts of the chemical industry, but today the methylation of inorganic... (Review)
Review
In the past, methylmercury compounds were manufactured as fungicides or appeared as unwanted byproducts of the chemical industry, but today the methylation of inorganic mercury in aquatic sediments and soils is the predominant if not the sole source of methylmercury. This form of mercury is bioaccumulated to a high degree in aquatic food chains to attain its highest concentrations in edible tissues in long-lived predatory fish living in both fresh and ocean waters. It is well absorbed from the diet and distributes within a few days to all tissues in the body. It crosses without hindrance the blood-brain and placental barriers to reach its principal target tissue, the brain. It is eliminated chiefly in the feces after conversion to inorganic mercury. The biological half-time of methylmercury in human tissues is about 50 days, but there is wide individual variation. Adult poisoning is characterized by focal damage to discrete anatomical areas of the brain such as the visual cortex and granule layer of the cerebellum. A latent period of weeks or months may ensue before the appearance of signs and symptoms of poisoning. The latter manifest themselves as paresthesia, ataxia, constriction of the visual fields, and hearing loss. The prenatal period is the most sensitive stage of the life cycle to methylmercury. Prenatally poisoned infants exhibit a range of effects from severe cerebral palsy to subtle developmental delays. Methylmercury is believed to inhibit those processes in the brain specially involved in development and growth such as neuronal cell division and migration.
Topics: Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Environmental Health; Humans; Mercury Poisoning; Methylmercury Compounds; Poisoning
PubMed: 8354179
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9310031 -
Bulletin of the World Health... Feb 2015
Topics: Humans; Methylmercury Compounds; Neurotoxicity Syndromes
PubMed: 25883408
DOI: 10.2471/BLT.14.141911 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Mar 2020China is the largest rice producer and consumer in the world, and mercury (Hg) levels, particularly methylmercury (MeHg), in rice and health exposure risks are public...
China is the largest rice producer and consumer in the world, and mercury (Hg) levels, particularly methylmercury (MeHg), in rice and health exposure risks are public concerns. Total Hg (THg) and MeHg levels in 767 (domestic = 709 and abroad = 58) Chinese commercial rice were investigated to evaluate Hg pollution level, dietary exposures and risks of IHg and MeHg. The mean rice THg and MeHg levels were 3.97 ± 2.33 μg/kg and 1.37 ± 1.18 μg/kg, respectively. The highest daily intake of MeHg and IHg were obtained in younger groups, accounted for 6% of the reference dose-0.1 μg/kg bw/day for MeHg, 0.3% of the provisional tolerance week intake-0.571 μg/kg bw/day for IHg. Residents in Central China and Southern China meet the highest rice Hg exposure, which were more than 7 times of those in Northwest China. Lower concentrations than earlier studies were observed along the implementations of strict policies since 2007. This may indicate that a declining temporal trend of Hg in Chinese grown rice and associated exposures could be obtained with the implementations of strict policies. Though there exist Hg pollution in commercial rice, Hg levels in Chinese commercial rice is generally safe compared with Hg polluted sites. Populations dwelling in China have relatively a quite low and safe MeHg and IHg exposure via the intake of commercial rice. Strict policies contributed to the decrease in THg and MeHg levels in Chinese-grown rice. More attention should be paid to younger groups.
Topics: China; Food Contamination; Humans; Mercury; Methylmercury Compounds; Oryza
PubMed: 31864929
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113706 -
The Journal of Toxicological Sciences 2014The accumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) through the daily consumption of large predatory fish poses potential health risks. MeHg has been found to cause Minamata... (Review)
Review
The accumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) through the daily consumption of large predatory fish poses potential health risks. MeHg has been found to cause Minamata disease, but the full nature of MeHg toxicity remains unclear. Because of its chemical properties, MeHg covalently binds to cellular proteins through their reactive thiols, referred to as S-mercuration, resulting in the formation of protein adducts. In this review, we summarize how the S-mercuration of cellular proteins could be involved in the major mechanisms that have been suggested to underlie MeHg toxicity. Additionally, we introduce our attempts to identify cases of S-mercuration for the research to reveal the true nature of MeHg toxicity.
Topics: Animals; Arginase; Calcium; Cysteine; Glutamic Acid; Glutathione Transferase; Humans; L-Iditol 2-Dehydrogenase; Membrane Proteins; Methylmercury Compounds; Microtubules; Oxidative Stress; Protein Binding; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Superoxide Dismutase; Tubulin
PubMed: 25242398
DOI: 10.2131/jts.39.687 -
The Science of the Total Environment Oct 2016Methylmercury contamination of the environment is an important issue globally, and birds are useful bioindicators for mercury monitoring programs. The available data on... (Review)
Review
Methylmercury contamination of the environment is an important issue globally, and birds are useful bioindicators for mercury monitoring programs. The available data on mercury contamination of birds in western North America were synthesized. Original data from multiple databases were obtained and a literature review was conducted to obtain additional mercury concentrations. In total, 29219 original bird mercury concentrations from 225 species were compiled, and an additional 1712 mean mercury concentrations, representing 19998 individuals and 176 species, from 200 publications were obtained. To make mercury data comparable across bird tissues, published equations of tissue mercury correlations were used to convert all mercury concentrations into blood-equivalent mercury concentrations. Blood-equivalent mercury concentrations differed among species, foraging guilds, habitat types, locations, and ecoregions. Piscivores and carnivores exhibited the greatest mercury concentrations, whereas herbivores and granivores exhibited the lowest mercury concentrations. Bird mercury concentrations were greatest in ocean and salt marsh habitats and lowest in terrestrial habitats. Bird mercury concentrations were above toxicity benchmarks in many areas throughout western North America, and multiple hotspots were identified. Additionally, published toxicity benchmarks established in multiple tissues were summarized and translated into a common blood-equivalent mercury concentration. Overall, 66% of birds sampled in western North American exceeded a blood-equivalent mercury concentration of 0.2 μg/g wet weight (ww; above background levels), which is the lowest-observed effect level, 28% exceeded 1.0 μg/g ww (moderate risk), 8% exceeded 3.0 μg/g ww (high risk), and 4% exceeded 4.0 μg/g ww (severe risk). Mercury monitoring programs should sample bird tissues, such as adult blood and eggs, that are most-easily translated into tissues with well-developed toxicity benchmarks and that are directly relevant to bird reproduction. Results indicate that mercury contamination of birds is prevalent in many areas throughout western North America, and large-scale ecological attributes are important factors influencing bird mercury concentrations.
Topics: Animals; Birds; Canada; Databases, Factual; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollutants; Geographic Information Systems; Methylmercury Compounds; Midwestern United States; Models, Biological; Northwestern United States; Risk Assessment; Southwestern United States; Species Specificity; Tissue Distribution
PubMed: 27093907
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.071