New Directions: Atmospheric mercury, easy to spot and hard to pin down: impasse?

The effects of mercury contamination and poisoning are seen in local populations of humans, animals and fish. They have been seen in the cases of industrial spillages, consumption of grain treated with mercury based fungicides, and where mercury is used by artisanal miners to refine gold. These are drastic examples which highlight the danger of exposure to mercury but could give the impression that mercury contamination can be avoided by avoiding places where it is used on a small or large scale. This is not the case.