A paper, titled "Global Mercury Concentrations in Biota: Their Use as a Basis for a Global Biomonitoring Framework" and published in the journal Ecotoxicology, describes for the first time currently available mercury data for fish and wildlife on a global scale. Data from the peer-reviewed literature, compiled in the Global Biotic Mercury Synthesis (GBMS) database of the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), will help inform worldwide efforts to reduce the impact of mercury pollution on people and the environment.
DURHAM, N.C. – If you had to guess which part of the world has the highest levels of atmospheric mercury pollution, you probably wouldn’t pick a patch of pristine Amazonian rainforest. Yet, that’s exactly where they are. In a new study appearing Jan. 28 in the journal Nature Communications, an international team of researchers show that illegal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon is causing exceptionally high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution in the nearby Los Amigos Biological Station.