ApocaDocs: Stray showers of mercury getting into food chain

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Posted Tue Dec 20 2011: from Press Asociation:


	Stray showers of mercury getting into food chain http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1324347538 Earth is being showered with mercury that can land anywhere and enter the food chain, a study has shown. The poisonous metal is released as a vapour by burning fuel then falls back to Earth and is easily absorbed by the aquatic ecosystem. Thousands of tonnes of mercury vapour are pumped into the air each year. Scientists discovered that in time mercury is oxidised it can then be deposited back on Earth, either in rain or snow. Bacteria transform the oxidised mercury into methyl mercury, which easily enters the food chain. US scientist Dr Seth Lyman, who led the research while at the University of Washington Bothell, said: "Much of the emitted mercury is deposited far from its original sources.["]

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'Doc Jim says:

Mercury... ubiquitous messenger of doom.