Socioeconomic Consequences of Mercury Use and Pollution

Until recently, human activities resulted in mercury releases to the biosphere with little consideration of undesirable consequences for the health of humans and wildlife. This paper outlines the pathways through which humans and wildlife are exposed to mercury. Fish consumption is the major route of exposure to methylmercury for both humans and wildlife. Humans can also receive toxic doses of mercury through inhalation of elevated concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury. We propose that any effective strategy for reducing mercury exposures requires a global perspective that examines the complete life cycle of mercury. Taking such a perspective, this paper identifies several approaches to measuring the benefits of reducing mercury exposure, policy options for reducing Hg emissions, possible exposure reduction mechanisms, and issues associated with mercury risk assessment and communication for different populations