A quick test for mercury in seafood.Mercury, a substance harmful to growing nervous systems, can dangerously contaminate con·tam·i·nate v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. food, especially fish. But checking for mercury requires lots of time and costly equipment. Now, researchers are developing a simple, portable, mercury- contamination test kit that commercial fishermen could use at sea, reports Lawrence Carlson, a biochemist at BioNebraska in Lincoln. A seafarer would add a fish sample to a dissolving agent, then put drops of the mixture into coated wells on a test plate. Mercury-tainted samples would turn green. The test responds to methylmercury, a compound formed in waterborne plants and microbes that accumulates in the food chain. Although natural events such as volcano eruptions release mercury into the environment, the mass production of batteries, munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. , fungicides This page aims to list well-known chemical compounds, to stimulate the creation of Wikipedia articles. This list is not necessarily complete or up to date – if you see an article that should be here but isn't (or one that shouldn't be here but is), please update the page , and latex paint has furthered its spread, Carlson says. The scientists adapted the quick fish test from a similar kit used to detect mercury in water and soil at toxic waste toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use, agriculture, the military, medical facilities, radioactive sources, and sites. So far, the test has worked well with samples of alligator, bass, swordfish swordfish, large food and game fish, Xiphias gladius, of the warmer Atlantic and Pacific waters, related to the sailfish. It is named for its sharp, broad, elongated upper jaw, which it uses to flail and pierce its prey of smaller fish, rising beneath a school , tuna, shark, and scallops, they report. |
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