ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2013
Mercury as a global pollutant: sources, pathways, and effects.
Article in Environmental science & technology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 387 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
387 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association between heavy metals exposure and risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Re-thinking the link between exposure to mercury and blood pressure.Archives of toxicology · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal Mercury Exposure and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2022Pooled it
- Advances in Concentration Gradient Generation Approaches in a Microfluidic Device for Toxicity Analysis.Cells · 2022Pooled it
- Quantum dot sensors for heavy metal detection: from mechanistic design to field deployment: a review.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Formation of Refractory Monomethylmercury Pools by Particle Adsorption.ACS ES&T water · 2026Article
- Microtopography and Seasonal Soil Moisture Govern Methylmercury Dynamics in Upland Soils of a Subtropical Coastal Montane Watershed.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Beyond genetics: how environmental stressors drive pediatric hypertension risk.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Review
- Human Mercury Biomonitoring Under the Minamata Convention: Blood, Urine, Hair, and Tissue Biomarkers (2000-2026).Biological trace element research · 2026Review
- Article
- Tracing Mercury from Land to River: Global Sources, Retention, and Implications for Sustainability.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Article
- Standardizing mercury litterfall and throughfall data for comparative research: Introducing the MFallDa global database.Data in brief · 2026Article
- Defect-rich CeORSC advances · 2026Article
- Prenatal methylmercury exposure disrupts developmental trajectories and induces sex-specific toxicity in pubertal rats.Research square · 2026Article
- Non-destructive sampling of larval amphibians shows tail tissues reflect whole-body methylmercury concentrations and trophic-related differences in bioaccumulation.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- The effects of nanoplastics on toxicity of metals and metal nanoparticles: molecular mechanisms and health effects.Archives of toxicology · 2026Review
- Detection of Atmospherically Relevant Mixed Mercuric Compounds by Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry.ACS earth & space chemistry · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (CHEnvironmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Individual and Combined Effects of Legacy and Emerging Contaminants on the Blue CrabJournal of xenobiotics · 2026Article
327 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that affects human and ecosystem health. We synthesize understanding of sources, atmosphere-land-ocean Hg dynamics and health effects, and consider the implications of Hg-control policies. Primary anthropogenic Hg emissions greatly exceed natural geogenic sources, resulting in increases in Hg reservoirs and subsequent secondary Hg emissions that facilitate its global distribution. The ultimate fate of emitted Hg is primarily recalcitrant soil pools and deep ocean waters and sediments. Transfers of Hg emissions to largely unavailable reservoirs occur over the time scale of centuries, and are primarily mediated through atmospheric exchanges of wet/dry deposition and evasion from vegetation, soil organic matter and ocean surfaces. A key link between inorganic Hg inputs and exposure of humans and wildlife is the net production of methylmercury, which occurs mainly in reducing zones in freshwater, terrestrial, and coastal environments, and the subsurface ocean. Elevated human exposure to methylmercury primarily results from consumption of estuarine and marine fish. Developing fetuses are most at risk from this neurotoxin but health effects of highly exposed populations and wildlife are also a concern. Integration of Hg science with national and international policy efforts is needed to target efforts and evaluate efficacy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.