Harvard Researchers Warn of Legacy Mercury in the Environment

Their model reveals that most of the mercury emitted to the environment ends up in the ocean within a few decades and remains there for centuries to millennia. These days, emissions are mainly from coal-fired power plants and artisanal gold mining. Thrown into the air, rained down onto lakes, absorbed into the soil, or carried by rivers, mercury eventually finds its way to the sea. In aquatic ecosystems, microbes convert it to methylmercury, the organic compound that accumulates in fish, finds its way to our dinner plates, and has been associated with neurological and cardiovascular damage.
http://www.thinktosustain.com/2013/07/harvard-researchers-warn-of-legacy-mercury-in-the-environment/#.UfEJ0tLU8VA