Potential Mercury Transporters and Urine Mercury Concentrations in Populations Exposed to Mercury Vapor from Gold Mining

Mercury (Hg) is a ubiquitous and very reactive toxic metal. One of the most important
sources of inorganic Hg exposure is gold mining, as elemental Hg (Hg0
 is widely used for
gold extraction in small-scale gold mining (United Nations Environment Programme 2002).
Hg0
 is well absorbed in the lungs and has a high neurotoxic potential, due to its ability to pass
the blood-brain barrier (Nordberg et al. 2007). Hg0
 is oxidized into mercuric Hg (Hg2+) in red
blood cells and other tissues (Nordberg et al. 2007). Gold miners are at risk of mercury
poisoning (Baeuml et al. 2011b; Bose-O'Reilly et al. 2010a, 2010b; Drasch et al. 2001, Harari
et al. 2012, Lettmeier et al. 2010), and Hg0
 pollution from the gold-extraction process may
also affect the health of individuals living close to mining areas (Bose-O'Reilly et al. 2010a,
2010b).
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