highmercury

Highmercury is not a formal chemical term, but is used in environmental science and public health to describe unusually high concentrations of mercury in an environment, material, or organism. It encompasses total mercury levels as well as organomercury species such as methylmercury, which are especially prone to bioaccumulation.

Mercury enters ecosystems from natural sources like volcanic activity and weathering of rocks, and from human activities including coal combustion, mining, and certain industrial processes. In water, elemental mercury can be converted into inorganic forms and then into methylmercury by anaerobic microorganisms, creating highmercury conditions in sediments and the aquatic food chain.

Health and ecological effects: Methylmercury exposure is neurotoxic, with fetuses and young children being particularly vulnerable. In adults, effects include sensory impairment, tremors, and cognitive changes. Highmercury in ecosystems can reduce fish populations and biodiversity, alter predator–prey relationships, and pose risks to wildlife.

Measurement and management: Monitoring uses measurements of total mercury and methylmercury in air, water, soil, and biota, applying methods such as cold vapor atomic absorption, atomic fluorescence, and mass spectrometry. Strategies to reduce highmercury include lowering emissions from combustion and industry, contaminant cleanup, and advisories limiting fish consumption for exposed groups.