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Title: Mercury in the ecosystem

Book ·
OSTI ID:5909085

This treatise on the environmental dispersion of mercury emphasizes the importance of ''mercury-consciousness'' in the present-day world, where rapidly expanding metallurgical, chemical, and other industrial developments are causing widespread contamination of the atmosphere, soil, and water by this metal and its toxic organic derivatives. Concepts concerning the mechanism of mercury dispersion and methyl-mercury formation in the physico-biological ecosystem are discussed in detail and a substantial body of data on the degree and nature of the mercury contamination of various plants, fish, and land animals by industrial and urban effluents is presented. Various analytical methods for the estimation of mercury in inorganic and organic samples are presented. These serve as a ready guide to the selection of the correct method for analyzing environmental samples. This book is reference work in mercury-related studies. It is written to influence industrial policies of governments in their formulation of control measures to avoid the recurrence of human tragedies such as the well-known Minamata case in Japan, and the lesser known cases in Iraq, Pakistan, and Guatamala.

OSTI ID:
5909085
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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