Assessment of the environmental impact of mercury on ecosystems of major ecological interest

Áurea Regina Alves Ignácio, Benjamí Piña Capó, Carlos Barata Martí, Carolina Joana da Silva, Demetrio Raldúa Pérez, Jean Remy Davee Guimaraes, Josep María Bayona Termens, Josue Ribeiro da Silva Nunes, Olaf Malm, Sergi Díez Salvador, Xavier Ruiz Gabriel.

Concern is growing about the environmental problems caused by mercury, in view of its high persistence, its extreme mobility and its entry to the food chain in the highly toxic form of methylmercury, representing a global threat to health and the environment.

This project will measure the levels of mercury and methylmercury pollution and biomagnification in ecosystems of major ecological interest like the Ebro Delta and Gállego and Cinca rivers in Spain, and the Mato Grosso in Brazil, by means of food chain sampling. It will also look into the complex biogeochemical processes governing their bioavailability in the aquatic medium.