The amount of mercury near the surface of many of the world’s oceans has tripled as the result of our polluting activities, a new study has found, reports The Guardian website.
This has potentially damaging implications for marine life as the result of the accumulation of the toxic metal, it adds.
"Mercury is accumulating in the surface layers of the seas faster than in the deep ocean, as we pour the element into the atmosphere and seas from a variety of sources, including mines, coal-fired power plants and sewage. Mercury is toxic to humans and marine life, and accumulates in our bodies over time as we are exposed to sources of it," the website says.
Since the industrial revolution, we have tripled the mercury content of shallow ocean layers, according to the letter published in the peer-review journal 'Nature' on Thursday, says The Guardian.
Mercury can be widely dispersed across the globe when it is deposited in water and the air, the report's authors said, so even parts of the globe remote from industrial sources can quickly suffer elevated levels of the toxic material.
Read more HERE.
This has potentially damaging implications for marine life as the result of the accumulation of the toxic metal, it adds.
"Mercury is accumulating in the surface layers of the seas faster than in the deep ocean, as we pour the element into the atmosphere and seas from a variety of sources, including mines, coal-fired power plants and sewage. Mercury is toxic to humans and marine life, and accumulates in our bodies over time as we are exposed to sources of it," the website says.
Since the industrial revolution, we have tripled the mercury content of shallow ocean layers, according to the letter published in the peer-review journal 'Nature' on Thursday, says The Guardian.
Mercury can be widely dispersed across the globe when it is deposited in water and the air, the report's authors said, so even parts of the globe remote from industrial sources can quickly suffer elevated levels of the toxic material.
Read more HERE.
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