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.countercurrents.org/cc100713B.htm
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