methylmercury

noun

meth·​yl·​mer·​cury ˌme-thəl-ˈmər-kyə-rē 

-ˈmər-k(ə-)rē

: any of various toxic compounds of mercury containing the complex CH₃Hg− that often occur as pollutants which accumulate in living organisms (such as fish) especially in higher levels of a food chain

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The mummichog’s remarkable survival abilities were first recognized in the early 1970s, when the marine ecologist Judith S. Weis and her husband, Peddrick, decided to use the species to investigate the effects of the toxic chemical methylmercury on marine life. —Carrie Arnold, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2021

Science of the Total Environment, 2008; 400: 75-92. Yaginuma-Sakurai K., Murata K., Iwai-Shimada M., Kurokawa N., Tatsuta N., Satoh H. Hair-to-blood ratio and biological half-life of mercury: experimental study of methylmercury exposure through fish consumption in humans. —Alice Chi Phung, Discover Magazine, 2 Feb. 2016

The oceans absorb this airborne mercury, and microorganisms convert the metal into a form called methylmercury. —Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 8 Aug. 2019

The most common, reliable, and affordable treatment is coagulation/filtration, which uses aluminum sulfate to consolidate both inorganic mercury and methylmercury into a solid that can be removed from the water and summarily disposed of at a hazardous waste site. —Gia Mora, Treehugger, 8 Mar. 2023

Artisanal miners in the region also use methylmercury to separate gold from other substances, which contaminates water, soil, and the plants and animals that depend on them. —Jill Langlois, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023

As the waterlogged plants and trees decay, the resulting low-oxygen environment allows bacteria to thrive, and those microorganisms combine elemental or inorganic mercury with carbon to create methylmercury. —Gia Mora, Treehugger, 8 Mar. 2023

But methylmercury that has started to accumulate in the region thanks to human endeavors is more dangerous. —Jill Langlois, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023

Most of the mercury was in the most toxic form to humans, methylmercury, thus such an increase is troubling, even though the 2008 levels were still considered safe to consume. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2015

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Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

methylmercury

noun

meth·​yl·​mer·​cury

ˌmeth-əl-ˈmər-kyə-rē, British also ˌmē-ˌthīl-

plural methylmercuries

: any of various toxic compounds of mercury containing the complex CH₃Hg− that often occur as pollutants formed as industrial by-products or pesticide residues, tend to accumulate in living organisms (as fish) especially in higher levels of a food chain, are rapidly and easily absorbed through the human intestinal wall, and cause neurological dysfunction in humans see minamata disease