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Mercury from the ocean through fog? A conceptual diagram

This is a figure that was made for the recent paper of mine. It shows how we believe that coastal fog is enriched in methylmercury (the most toxic kind of mercury). Rainwater originates high in the atmosphere and is not enriched in methylmercury. The forests that intercept the fog water then receive fog drip containing methylmercury, which is effectively taken up by lichen and maybe other plants. The deer eat the lichen and the mountain lions eat the deer. What is the risk to humans from this process? That is what we hope to find out.


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About This Project

Near-toxic levels of mercury were recently discovered in the fur of mountain lions in the mountains of coastal California. Wet deposition of fog water, which is enriched in mercury, was suspected to be the cause. The foggy coast of California is also a major food growing zone, and we hypothesize that mercury in fog poses a risk to its residents through the diet. We propose to make measurements of mercury in crops and animal products from foggy and non-foggy areas.

Blast off!

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