Cameron Wilbert
GLG 171
4/24/13
Prof Gutierrez
Mercury is a toxic element that pollutes our lakes and streams in the United States and around the world. Some might ask what mercury is. It is a silvery colored element that is naturally found in air, water, soil and even rocks. It is a dense liquid of the heavy metals category of elements. It can be commonly found in thermometers, batteries, light switches and fluorescent light bulbs.
Mercury pollution comes from coal burning power plants. When it is released into the air it returns to earth via rain and snow and therefore deposited into our bodies of water. Once the mercury is in our water it is transformed by bacteria and sunlight into the most toxic form of mercury; methyl-mercury. Most mercury that is in our environment can be found as a gas; Hg. When it is high in the air it converted into Hg (ii). Methyl-mercury is so dangerous because it is highly soluble and bio accumulative in the food chain. Bio accumulation is the process where organisms take up a contaminant faster than their bodies can eliminate it. As mercury moves up the food chain it bio magnifies and the contaminants concentration becomes more and more dangerous each time it grows. It enters the food chain first by small insect and animals which are then ate by smaller fish and so on, each time the methyl is passed on to the cells of the fish until they reach the predatory biggest fish in the environment. The fish at the top of the food chain; big mouth bass, commonly has the higher concentrations of mercury. Since they typically are at the top of the food chain they have consumed many small animals with mercury in them, and we as people tend to want to eat the bigger fish.
Almost all fish has mercury in them. Only in concentrations over .3 is there a concern for human health. And even then the concern is limited and not all adults could be