ABSTRACT
Methylmercury is a ubiquitous contaminant of seafood and freshwater fish (1). Human
exposures to this toxicant have increased over time, due to anthropogenic mercury
pollution, and because modern fishing technology allows catching large predatory species
that accumulate methylmercury. Dramatic reminders of the neurotoxic potential of
methylmercury occurred in the poisoning incidents in Minamata and Niigata, Japan, in the
1950s and 1960s and the subsequent contamination of bread in Iraq in 1971 from
methylmercury-treated seed grains (1,2).