Biomaterial Database

Mercury content of small pan fish from New York State waters. 1994

E L Mills, and W H Gutenmann, and D J Lisk

Cornell Biological Field Station, Bridgeport, New York 13030.

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and pumpkin seed (Lepomis gibbosus) were sampled from 16 waters in New York-State and analyzed for total mercury concentration. The levels of mercury in the fish were all well below the safe guideline for human consumption (1 ppm of mercury, fresh weight) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Factors affecting the mobility, methylation and absorption of mercury by fish are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008628	Mercury	A silver metallic element that exists as a liquid at room temperature. It has the atomic symbol Hg (from hydrargyrum, liquid silver), atomic number 80, and atomic weight 200.59. Mercury is used in many industrial applications and its salts have been employed therapeutically as purgatives, antisyphilitics, disinfectants, and astringents. It can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes which leads to MERCURY POISONING. Because of its toxicity, the clinical use of mercury and mercurials is diminishing.
D008745	Methylation	Addition of methyl groups. In histo-chemistry methylation is used to esterify carboxyl groups and remove sulfate groups by treating tissue sections with hot methanol in the presence of hydrochloric acid. (From Stedman, 25th ed)	Methylations
D009518	New York	State bounded on the north by Lake Ontario and Canada, on the east by Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and on the west by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and Canada.
D010471	Perches	A common name for fish of the family Percidae, belonging to the suborder Percoidei, order PERCIFORMES.	Perca,Perch,Percidae
D010473	Perciformes	The most diversified of all fish orders and the largest vertebrate order. It includes many of the commonly known fish such as porgies, croakers, sunfishes, dolphin fish, mackerels, TUNA, etc.	Bluegill,Croakers,Dolphin Fish,Porgies,Sparid Fish,Sparus,Sunfishes,Centrarchidae,Mackerels,Mahi-Mahi,Bluegills,Croaker,Fish, Sparid,Mackerel
D005399	Fishes	A group of cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins, a cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton, and elongated bodies covered with scales.
D005506	Food Contamination	The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.	Food Adulteration,Adulteration, Food,Adulterations, Food,Contamination, Food,Contaminations, Food,Food Adulterations,Food Contaminations
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014874	Water Pollutants, Chemical	Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water.	Chemical Water Pollutants,Landfill Leachate,Leachate, Landfill,Pollutants, Chemical Water