ABSTRACT
Mercury (Hg) is a trace element that can cause serious damage to the environment and human health, so its monitoring in soil, water, and foods is very important in order to determine its entry into the human food chain. In soil it occurs naturally in variable concentrations depending on factors such as the parent material, the land use, and the vicinity of mining and industries. Anthropogenic activities such as the slashing and burning of forests, mining, agriculture, metallurgy, melting, and different types of industries use soil for waste disposal. For example, mercury compounds were used in the past for plant disease control in concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.01 kg ha-1. These practices have contributed to air, water, and soil Hg pollution.
