Questions related to Mercury

Ask the Expert Question: 

What species of mercury is most commonly found in fish tissues?  Is it typically considered solid or is it dissolved mercury that they take in through their use of the water?

Expert Response: 

Methyl mercury is the most common mercury species that bioaccumulates in the food chain, but there have also been reports of other organo mercury species found in aquatic tissues. Although methyl mercury does have some water solubility, most of the methyl mercury accumulated in fish is from the food consumed by the fish rather than being absorbed directly from the water. So the mercury is ingested either as food or on solid particles consumed along with the food source.

Ask the Expert Question:

What is the solubility and volatility of methyl mercury?

Expert Response:

Physical properties for methyl mercury are available at this link:   http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/html/mercury.html.  The boiling point is about 357°C. Methyl mercury is considered insoluble in water. Measured concentrations in water are in the parts per trillion range or lower.

Ask the Expert Question:
What forms of mercury would you expect to see in an industrial scrap yard?

Expert Response: 

An industrial scrap yard could have a variety mercury species. Elemental mercury was commonly used in switches and other electrical equipment for many years. It was also common in thermometers and gas pressure measurement devices. Mercury was used in paint in various organic and inorganic forms. Mercury has also been a minor component in some metal alloys. Mercury was common in some batteries, lighting equipment and as an industrial catalyst. Thus, the specific mercury species would be highly dependent on the type of scrap brought in and how well segregated the scrap streams were.

 

Ask the Expert Question:

How well can the lab define the type of mercury that we are dealing with in the <100 ng/l range?

Expert Response: 

TestAmerica can measure total mercury down to 0.5 ng/L and methyl mercury down to 0.05 ng/L.  We do not currently have the capability to measure other mercury species.