title: Investigations on methyl mercury contamination of fishes in the Second Songhua River.
abstract: Fishes in the middle reaches of the Second Songhua River in Jilin Province were heavily contaminated by methyl mercury, the average content of 61 fish samples being 0.42 mg/kg. The upper and lower reaches were less contaminated and the averages were 0.12 mg/kg (53 samples) and 0.08 mg/kg (20 samples), respectively. The average methyl mercury content of fishes (20 samples) collected from a nearby "nonpolluted" water reservoir was 0.03 mg/kg. In a total of 134 fish samples collected from the Second Songhua River, 41% of the samples had a methyl mercury content exceeding the National Tolerance Limit of 0.2 mg/kg.
authors.affiliation: Section of Food Hygiene, Sanitary and Anti-epidemic Station of Jilin City, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: She
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005523:Food Supply; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D011634:Public Health; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; D008628:Mercury