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Chalmers team develops method to reduce levels of mercury in sulfuric acid

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Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a method that can reduce the levels of mercury in sulfuric acid by more than 90%, even from low levels. It is therefore a worldwide challenge that sulfuric acid often contains one of the most toxic substances: mercury.

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Upper atmosphere facilitates changes that let mercury enter food chain

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New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain. Daniel Jaffe, a science and technology professor at University of Washington Bothell, is coauthor of the paper.

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Inorganic mercury converted to more toxic and bio-accumulative monomethylmercury in ocean waters, possibly by microbes

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A team led by the University of Alberta has confirmed that inorganic mercury (Hg) found worldwide in ocean water is transformed into monomethylmercury (MMHg)—a potent and bio-accumulative neurotoxin—in the seawater. In a 1991 paper discussing concerns with mercury and monomethylmercury, William F. 159-166.

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ORNL study identifies more biopathways for formation of toxic methylmercury

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More forms of mercury can be converted to methylmercury—a form of mercury that can be taken into the food chain and eventually can result in mercury-contaminated fish—than previously thought, according to a study led by a team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) published in Nature Geoscience.

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University of Alberta Researchers Find That Oil Sands Industry Is Releasing More Pollutants Into Athabasca River System Than Previously Estimated

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New research from a team at the University of Alberta, Canada, finds that Alberta’s oilsands industry is releasing more pollutants into the Athabasca River, its tributaries and its watershed than previously estimated. The pollutants found include mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium. Kelly et al. David Schindler. Kelly, David W.

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Harvard study finds human health risks from Canadian hydroelectric projects

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In a new study, Harvard University researchers found more than 90% of potential new Canadian hydroelectric projects are likely to increase concentrations of the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg) in food webs near indigenous communities. The research is published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Calder, Amina T.

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Study finds heavy-petroleum fuels raising vanadium emissions; human emissions outpacing natural sources by factor of 1.7

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Breathing vanadium-rich aerosols has unknown but potentially adverse health impacts, according to the researchers, who note that the human impacts on the global vanadium cycle parallel impacts on the global cycles for lead and mercury. Human emissions of vanadium to atmosphere now exceed natural sources by a factor of 1.7 1715500114.

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