Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract Mercury is one of elements that are first found and utilized by human. In the environment mercury exists in different chemical species, which lead to different environmental behaviors and biological effects. Here we briefly describe the element from three aspects: mercury in environment, speciation analysis of mercury, and toxicity of mercury.