Mercury becomes the most toxic form of seawater

Research conducted by the University of Alberta has confirmed that the relatively harmless inorganic form of mercury found in oceans around the world has been transformed into the strongest toxic substance in the sea itself.

After two years of testing water samples in the Arctic Ocean , the team of researchers have found relatively inorganic mercury, which is discharged from human activities such as industry and gas, spread out. through a process called methylation and becoming monomethyl mercury lethal.

Seafood is the largest source of monomethyl mercury exposure to humans. (Source: Internet) .

Unlike inorganic mercury , monomethyl mercury is a bioaccumulative substance, meaning that its toxic effect is spread as it grows through the food chain from small sea creatures to humans. The greatest exposure to monomethyl mercury in humans is through seafood.

Researchers believe that methylation occurs in oceans around the world and that this change is due to the bacteria that live in the ocean.

The lead author of the study, Igor Lehnherr, collected seawater samples from Canada's Arctic Ocean Islands . Lehnherr said the amount of inorganic mercury-modified mercury monomethyl accounts for nearly 50% of the amount of neurotoxin present in the oceans and could account for a significant amount of mercury found in the Arctic Ocean.

The team of researchers confirmed that this is the first direct evidence that inorganic mercury is methylated in seawater.