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Research progress in mercury pollution in rice and methylmercury exposure through rice consumption
Received:March 25, 2019  
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KeyWord:rice;mercury;methylmercury;speciation analysis;dietary exposure;health risk
Author NameAffiliation
CHENG He-fa College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 
GAO Xu College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 
LUO Qing College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 
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Abstract:
      Mercury is a global pollutant that affects human and ecosystem health. With the growing mercury pollution of the environment, pollution of rice, a staple food for more than half of the world's population, by mercury has received widespread concern around the world. Mercury occurs in the forms of inorganic mercury and methylmercury in rice grains, both of which have significant detrimental health effects on humans (with methylmercury being more toxic). Thus, rice consumption could be an important exposure pathway for mercury, particularly methylmercury, for the population in the affected regions. This review summarizes the recent progress in research on the sources of mercury pollution in the environment and rice, health effects of inorganic mercury and methylmercury, uptake and accumulation of methylmercury in rice, analytical methods for the total content and chemical speciation of mercury in food (including rice), current status of mercury pollution of rice around the globe, and the corresponding exposure of humans to methylmercury through rice consumption. Existing studies showed that severe mercury pollution of rice has occurred in the mercury mining areas of Guizhou Province of China and in Southeast Asia countries. As rice is consumed as the staple food by local populations, significant public health risk has resulted from dietary exposure to methylmercury in the polluted rice. As a result, more research should be conducted to characterize the pollution of rice by mercury worldwide and assess the corresponding public health risk of dietary methylmercury exposure through rice consumption. In addition, it is important to strengthen research on understanding the mechanism of mercury uptake, transportation, and accumulation in rice plants and the chemical speciation of mercury during these processes.