• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.392-398
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• 1997

A method of selective determination of inorganic and organic mercury compounds has been described. The $CHCl_3$ solution of a high molecular quaternary alkylammonium salt, Aliquat 336 was used for the simultaneous preconcentration of both inorganic, $Hg^{2+}$ as its thiocyanate complex, and organic mercury compounds, $CH_3HgCl$ and $C_2H_3O_2$ $HgC_6H_5$ by extraction from their aqueous solution. Selective separation of the inorganic mercury from the extract was followed by stripping with 3 M $HClO_4 $ solution for the subsequent determination by CVAAS. Organic mercury was also determined by CVAAS after removal of $CHCl_3solvent$ from the extract and decomposition of the residue with 4% $KMnO_4 $-1 MH_2$S0_4$. The mixtures of inorganic and organic mercury compounds contained 1.0 $\mug$ as Hg in 50 mL of sample solution(0.02 ${\mu}gHg/mL$) were analysed within ${\pm}6%$ by absolute errors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.4258-4264
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• 2011

The total mercury concentration ($Hg_T$) of surface snow samples collected along a ~1500 km transect in east Queen Maud Land was determined using inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry to address the behavior of Hg on the Antarctic Plateau. Due to the volatile nature of mercury, measures were taken against Hg loss from standard solutions by choosing appropriate container material and stabilizing agents. Glass bottles with Teflon-lined caps were superior to Teflon and polyethylene containers in protecting against Hg loss, but addition of gold chloride ($AuCl_3$) or bromine chloride (BrCl) was necessary to ensure preservation of Hg. As Hg loss was also observed in snowmelt samples, our analysis may underestimate the actual amount of HgT in the snow. Even so, the measured HgT was still very low (< 0.4-10.8 pg $g^{-1}$, n = 44) without a signal of depositional enhancement accompanying photo-oxidation of atmospheric elemental mercury in austral midsummer. Moreover, the dynamic variation along the traverse implies spatial and temporal heterogeneity in its source processes.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 1999

Thirty-day-old seedlings of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) were treated with different concentrations of HgCl$_2$(0. 10 and 50 $\mu$M) for up to 20 days. and the detailed distribution of Hg absorbed and its toxicity in different plant parts (roots, stems and leaves) were investigated. The accumulation of Hg in plants increased with external Hg concentrations. and Hg is strongly retained by roots. Further. Hg content in leaves was various. showing more accumulation in older leaves. Seedlings exposed to toxic levels of Hg showed not only the reduction of dry weight and length of both shoot and root. and chlorophyll levels in leaves but also the enhancement of malondialdehyde (a lipid peroxidation product) formation in all plant parts investigated. These results suggest that physiological impairment of a plant exposed to Hg may be achieved by internal distribution of Hg absorbed and Hg-induced oxidative stress in different plant parts.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.235-240
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• 2013

Extracellular accumulation of amyloid beta protein ($A{\beta}$) plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some metals, such as copper, lead, and aluminum can affect the $A{\beta}$ accumulation in the brain. However, the effect of mercury on $A{\beta}$ accumulation in the brain is not clear. Thus, this study was proposed to estimate whether mercury concentration affects $A{\beta}$ accumulation in PC12 cells. We treated 10, 100, and 1000 nM $HgCl_2$ (Hg) or $CH_3HgCl_2$ (MeHg) for 48 hr in PC12 cells. After treatment, $A{\beta}_{40}$ in culture medium increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Hg and MeHg increased amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is related to $A{\beta}$ production. Neprilysin (NEP) levels in PC12 cells were decreased by Hg and MeHg treatment. These results suggested that Hg induced $A{\beta}$ accumulation through APP overproduction and reduction of NEP.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.245-250
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• 1984

Reciprocal exchanges of DNA in sister chromatids (SCEs) are induced by various carcinogens and mutagens, although the quantitative relationship between the number of mutations and SCEs induced varies among chemicals. Nevertheless, the analysis of SCEs production by various agents often proposed as a sensitive and quantitative assay for mutagenicity and cytotoxicity. Mercury, even if which has no evidences for mutagenicity and carcinogenicity, is reported to exert some cytotoxic effects, such as chromosomal aberrations or bad influences to ovulation and reproduction in experimental animals, etc.. In this study, tests for sister chromatid exchanges have been carried out on normal human lymphocytes in whole blood culture to add mercury chloride ($HgCl_2$) or methylmercury chloride ($CH_3\;HgCl$) for 72 hr. The results indicate the dose-dependent relationship between the frequencies of SCEs and the concentrations of $HgCl_2,\;CH_{3}HgCl$ and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU). Lymphocyte proliferation has depressed in the higher concentration of mercury.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.917-924
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• 2010

The practicability of transgenic tobacco engineered to express bacterial native mercuric reductase (MerA), responsible for the transport of $Hg^{2+}$ ions into the cell and their reduction to elemental mercury ($Hg^0$), without any codon modification, for phytoremediation of mercury pollution was evaluated. Transgenic tobacco plants reduce mercury ions to the metallic form; take up metallic mercury through their roots; and evolve the less toxic elemental mercury. Transformed tobacco produced a large amount of merA protein in leaves and showed a relatively higher resistance phenotype to $HgCl_2$ than wild type. Results suggest that the integrated merA gene, encoding mercuric reductase, a key enzyme of the bacterial mer operon, was stably integrated into the tobacco genome and translated to active MerA, which catalyzes the bioconversion of toxic $Hg^{2+}$ to the least toxic elemental $Hg^0$, and suggest that MerA is capable of reducing the $Hg^{2+}$, probably via NADPH as an electron donor. The transgenic tobacco expressing merA volatilized significantly more mercury than wild-type plants. This is first time we are reporting the expression of a bacterial native merA gene via the nuclear genome of Nicotiana tabacum, and enhanced mercury volatilization from tobacco transgenics. The study clearly indicates that transgenic tobacco plants are reasonable candidates for the remediation of mercurycontaminated areas.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.16-24
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• 2016

A new strain of Pseudomonas sp. was isolated from mercury (Hg)-contaminated sites in Taiwan. This bacterium removed more than 80% of Hg present in the culture medium at 12 h incubation and was chosen for further analysis of the molecular mechanisms of Hg tolerance/removal abilities in this Pseudomonas sp. We used RNA-seq, one of the next-generation sequencing methods, to investigate the transcriptomic responses of the Pseudomonas sp. exposed to 60 mg/L of Hg²⁺. We de novo assembled 4,963 contigs, of which 10,533 up-regulated genes and 5,451 down-regulated genes were found to be regulated by Hg. The 40 genes most altered in expression levels were associated with tolerance to Hg stress and metabolism. Functional analysis showed that some Hg-tolerant genes were related to the mer operon, sulfate uptake and assimilation, the enzymatic antioxidant system, the HSP gene family, chaperones, and metal transporters. The transcriptome were analyzed further with Gene Ontology (GO) and Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COGs) of proteins and showed diverse biological functions and metabolic pathways under Hg stress.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 1989

This study was performed to investigate the mercury concentration of restaurant meals and to estimate the total dietary intake of mercury. Experimental subjects were 66 cases in 11 kinds of common restaurant meals collected from the Seoul area. Total mercury was determined by Hg-analyzer and two kinds of atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The results were as follows: 1. Mean value of mercury contents in fluid of meals was about 0.002 ppm and there was no significant difference between the two methods. 2. Mercury concentration of residue by AAS was significantly higher than that by Hg-analyzer. The mean values of mercury concentration were 2.423 ppm, 10.229 ppm and 11.655 ppm by Hg-analyzer, AAS-PE and AAS-Hi, respectively. 3. Dietary intake of mercury from the meals was estimated $7.806\;\mu\textrm{g}/day$ by Hg-analyzer and 31.290, $35.349\;\mu\textrm{g}/day$ by two kinds of AAS. The values were lower than the FAO/WHO limit, $42.9\;\mu\textrm{g}/day$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 1988

In this study, the method of adsorption by activated carbon in the removal of Hg(II) ion in waste water was treated. The influence of kinds of activated carbon and effect of temperature and the influence of coexistent salt on adsorption rates, the influence of pH in the adsorption, equilibrium and adsorption of mercury from activated carbon were investigated. From the adsorption on activated carbon of mercury(II) ion in the presence of cyanide or thiocyanate ion was found that mercury(II) was easily adsorved onto the activated carbon in the form of complex artion such as Hg(CN)$_4^{2-}$, Hg(SCN)$_4^{2-}$ respectively. ZnCl$_2$ activation method had a higher adsorptive ability than steam activation method in adsorption of Hg on activated carbon. Activated carbon adsorbed iodide ion is very effective on adsorption of Hg.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.08b
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• pp.1152-1154
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• 2007

The distributions of mercury (Hg) in the bulb of a mercury vapor lamp are significantly affected by its turn-off conditions. Most of mercury should be attached to the electrodes before ignition by a proper turn-off condition. In the present study, the effect of the transient profiles of lamp cooling after turn-off on the distribution of Hg was investigated.