Study on the Mercury Migration in Clinker-Producing

Mercury is one most important global pollutants in the environment. The article studied the mercury migration according to the mercury migration in the cement process, in which a model for the relationship between the mercury input, internal circulation and output is built. In the model, mercury concentration in each stage of the process was calculated and characterized with different input, which were Consistent with actual verification, and then the reasonable method was advised to prevent the mercury pollution. The simulation showed that the mercury input is below 0.1g/t.cli, and the mercury gas emission concentration is below 0.05 mg/Nm3 whenever the mode of raw mill is on or off. But once the mercury input is over 0.23 g/t.cli, the mercury gas emission concentration is over 0.05mg/Nm3 although the mode of raw mill is on. The mercury content in ERM and KA is almost ten times higher than raw material, and the mercury content in KA is almost ten times higher than raw meal extraction, and multiples increase with higher mercury input as well. Even if mercury is continuously enriched internal, there is no limit of mercury concentration saturation.

Total Mercury Concentration of Wild Caught Fish Purchased from Grocery Stores: A Potential Public Health Concern

Methylmercury is a highly toxic organic compound that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in the human body when absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion.1 Thus, monitoring methylmercury levels in fish is crucial for protecting public health and preventing dramatic scenarios such as the Minamata disease crisis in Japan. In this study, three different species of wild caught fish – Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from Alaska, USA; tuna imported from Vietnam; and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) imported from Indonesia – were collected from a Harris Teeter grocery store in Washington D.C. Total mercury concentration was measured by ICP-MS and the analyzed samples’ concentrations were 19.8 ± 2.9 ppb, 2.67 ± 0.01 ppm, and 380 ± 9 ppb for Sockeye Salmon, swordfish, and tuna, respectively.

Total Mercury Concentration of Wild Caught Fish Purchased from Grocery Stores: A Potential Public Health Concern

Methylmercury is a highly toxic organic compound that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in the human body when absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion.1 Thus, monitoring methylmercury levels in fish is crucial for protecting public health and preventing dramatic scenarios such as the Minamata disease crisis in Japan. In this study, three different species of wild caught fish – Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from Alaska, USA; tuna imported from Vietnam; and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) imported from Indonesia – were collected from a Harris Teeter grocery store in Washington D.C. Total mercury concentration was measured by ICP-MS and the analyzed samples’ concentrations were 19.8 ± 2.9 ppb, 2.67 ± 0.01 ppm, and 380 ± 9 ppb for Sockeye Salmon, swordfish, and tuna, respectively.

Fish Sellers Knowledge on Exposure of Mercury from Fish in the Kenjeran Beach Area, Surabaya

The development in industrialization and human activities causing public health problems related to the safety of fish consumed in areas where industrialization is taking place especially in Surabaya city. One of the concerns on food safety especially in fish is the contamination of mercury. This study aimed to measure and identify the mercury contamination in fish especially in freshwater and saltwater fish and to assess the mercury contamination knowledge level among fish sellers in Kenjeran Beach area, Surabaya. A number of 36 sellers from eight traditional markets located near Kenjeran Beach area were randomly selected and 72 fish were taken to the laboratory to assess the mercury concentration. The sellers were given a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of mercury pollution in fish. The result showed that 55.5% of saltwater fish were contaminated with mercury (mean=0.00686 ppm). The mean score of questionnaires was 7.69 out of 19. There was no significant association between the questionnaire score and fish’s mercury concentration. This study highlights the association between sellers buying fish from Kenjeran Beach and fish’s mercury contamination. The increased risk of contamination from food can occur due to the low awareness among citizens and food sellers. Therefore, direct and indirect strategies to empower people who live near Kenjeran Beach Area to choose low mercury concentrated fish are needed.

Total mercury pathways from artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Sukabumi using system dynamics model

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been operated in Sukabumi District, West Java, Indonesia, for more than two decades. ASGM uses mercury in a ball mill gold ore processing, and the waste is released into the environment during and after this process. Previous studies have found that mercury-contaminated water, air, sediments, soil, and aquatic biota. This study aimed to predict and analyze total mercury pathways from ASGM in the air, water, sediment, fish, and humans using a system dynamics model. The results showed that the total mercury concentration in water was low and still meets the standard, while the total mercury concentration in sediment had already exceeded the standard. Biomagnification occurred to plankton feeder fish and top predator fish, but still below the level of tolerance mercury. Mercury levels in top predator fish and humans take a long time to exceed the standard (77 and 67 months after entering the body, respectively). The percentage error of 17.67% compared to the experimental data showed that the prediction of the developed system dynamics model is acceptable. Therefore, the model can be used to predict the total mercury pathways in the environment, especially in the ASGM area.

High Mercury Concentrations of European Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in Boreal Headwater Lakes with Variable History of Acidification and Recovery

High dissolved organic carbon and low pH are often associated with elevated mercury content of fish in boreal lakes, but less is known about the fish mercury dynamics in lakes recovering from acidification stress. We measured total mercury concentration (THg) in muscle of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) and evaluated the overall correlation with environmental and growth variables in 24 boreal headwater lakes in the 2010s. We found negative correlations of length-corrected perch THg with lake pH and perch growth, but no correlation with dissolved organic carbon. The main emphasis in the present study was focused to a subset of ten lakes in southern Finland with known perch THg during severe acidification in the 1980–1990s. The comparison of perch THg concentrations in the 2010s with values determined in the 1980–1990s showed a sharp increase in most acidic lakes where the perch populations suffered from severe acid stress in the 1980s. This increase was attributed to growth condensation caused by sharp decrease in perch growth during recovery of reproduction capacity and the consequent increases in population densities of perch. Our results highlight the importance of perch growth rate and population density for understanding the variability of fish Hg in boreal headwater lakes, where recovery from acidification can lead to higher mercury concentration of fish in certain cases.