ENVIRONMENTAL DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSFORMATION OF MERCURY-COMPOUNDS

Health risk assessments for mercury are subject to uncertainties assoc iated with the prediction of exposure from multiple pathways (air, wat er, and food). In order to accurately predict multipathway exposure, a n understanding of the transport and transformation processes that gov ern mercury's multimedia distribution is required. Modeling and analys is of multimedia exposure requires knowledge of the physicochemical pr operties, partition coefficients, and intermedia transport properties of a compound. Although a number of reviews of the behavior of mercury in the environment have been published over the last decade, little a ttention has been given to the environmental multimedia distribution o f mercury and the governing intermedia transfer factors. This review p rovides a comprehensive evaluation of the chemical and physical proces ses that govern mercury distribution among the major environmental med ia. Physicochemical properties, partition coefficients, and intermedia transport parameters that can be used to predict abiotic and biotic t ransfer of mercury among environmental media are also presented.