Number: RL32420
Title: Mercury in the Environment: Sources and Health Risks
Authors: Linda-Jo Schierow, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: This report provides background information about mercury, and summarizes recent scientific findings. It discusses the sources (i.e., natural versus industrial, historic versus modern) and chemical forms of mercury in the environment; how mercury moves through the environment and concentrates in fish (i.e., the fate of mercury); and the risks to human health and wildlife of mercury exposure through fish consumption. Each of these major sections of the report aims to summarize scientific evidence relevant to specific arguments and questions that have emerged in the policy context.
Pages: 27
Date: January 19, 2006