摘要
Life began millions of years ago on our planet,where mercury(Hg)occurred naturally in the air,soil,and water.In the thousands of years of human civilization,the anthropogenic emission of Hgwas also clearly recorded in historical archives,mostly derived from gold/silver refining and coal combustion.However,the ecological and health risks of this ubiquitous element were commonly recognized as late as the 20th century.It has been 110 years since the first retrievable paper of Hg in“Environmental Sciences Ecology”was published in 1912,based on the search on Web of Science.The cycling and risk of Hg has been comprehensively understood and emphasized,particularly after the outbreak of the Minamata disease in the 1950s.Despite those previous efforts and advances in understanding the behavior of this toxic element in various environmental media and its flux through food chains,it is still far from clear how Hg makes its way from the ambient environment to the human body.
