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What Is Mercury? As anyone who's ever broken a thermometer can attest, mercury is a very fascinating substance. It also has an interesting history. Named after the fleet-footed Roman messenger of the gods, mercury has been used for more than 2,000 years. Mercury ore cinnabar has even been found smeared on Neolithic (stone age) skulls. Its first recorded mention is a reference by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., a time when the silvery-white, heavy …

…many surface waters. Almost all the mercury found in animal tissues is methyl mercury, a water-soluble toxic organic mercury compound. Persistent and non-biodegradable, mercury biomagnifies up the food chain. In the Arctic as few as six steps stand between ingestion by microscopic organisms and consumption by human beings. Pregnant women can pass mercury from contaminated fish to their unborn children. Toxic effects include central nervous system and kidney damage, mental retardation, blindness and cerebral palsy.