CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Description of Mercury

Mercury is an element that occurs naturally in the environment, usually in

combination with other elements as mercury compounds or salts. Metallic mercury is a

shiny, silver-white metal with Hg atomic symbol, 80 atomic number, and 201 atomic

weight, that is a liquid at room temperature. If heated, it enters the atmosphere as a

colorless, odorless gas. Mercury combines with other elements to form inorganic mercury

compounds, some of which are soluble in water. It also combines with carbon to form

organic Mercury compounds, such as methylmercury. Because it is an element, mercury

does not degrade nor can it be destroyed (Argonne National Laboratory, EVS, 2005) but

mercury can be accumulated by microorganisms and some plants.

Mercury Uses and Transference

Mercury is a metal with special properties that give it a wide variety of

applications. Just as water is an effective solvent of many substances because of its

chemical composition, “mercury's atomic structure makes it an effective solvent of most

metals. This, combined with its low boiling point, makes it useful for extracting gold

from ore in a process of amalgamation and distillation.” (Nicholson, 2011)

Human activities since the start of the industrial age (e.g. mining and burning of

fossil fuels) have resulted in additional release of mercury to the environment. A major

contribution to the release of mercury, to water and soil that were previously

contaminated from human activities. Most of the mercury found in the environment is in
6
the form of metallic mercury and inorganic mercury compounds. Metallic and inorganic

mercury enters the air from mining deposits of ores that contain mercury, from the

emissions of coal-fired power plants, from burning municipal and medical waste, from

the production of cement, and from uncontrolled releases in factories that use mercury.

Inorganic mercury may also enter water or soil from the weathering of rocks that contain

mercury, from factories or water treatment facilities that releases water contaminated

with mercury and from incineration of municipal garbage that contains mercury.

Inorganic or organic compounds of mercury maybe released through water or soil if

mercury-containing fungicides are used. (Monosson, 2007) Mercury that is released in

the environment will eventually end up in soils and surface waters. (Lentech Water

Treatment & Purification Holding B.V., 1998-2009)

Unknown to many, mercury is prevalent here in the Philippines. Israel and Asirot

(2002) report that mercury is discharged together with other wastes into inadequate

tailings ponds or thrown directly into rivers and waterways. Furthermore, vaporized

mercury is released into the atmosphere.

Mercury Health Effects

Mercury is an element, and therefore its chemical structure cannot be further

broken down. In its elemental form, mercury is highly toxic when inhaled (Agency for

Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1999).

A person can be exposed to mercury from breathing in contaminated air, from

swallowing or eating contaminated water or food, or from having skin contact with

mercury. Skin contact with metallic mercury has been shown to cause an allergic reaction

(skin rashes) in some people. Other forms of organic mercury (in particular

7
dimethylmercury) can rapidly enter the body through the skin. Organic mercury

compounds may evaporate slowly at room temperature and may enter the body easily if it

will breathe in the vapors. Once organic mercury is in the bloodstream, it moves easily to

most tissues and readily enters the brain (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease

Registry, 1999). Mercury salts are irritating, and can cause blisters and ulcers on the lips

and tongue. Rashes, excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate,

eye irritation, muscle twitching, weakness, and high blood pressure are other symptoms

of elevated exposures. (Health Canada, 2009)

Short-term exposure (hours) to high levels of metallic mercury vapor in the air

can damage the lining of the mouth and irritate the lungs and airways, causing tightness

of the breath, a burning sensation in the lungs, and coughing. Lung cancer was found in

Swedish chloralkali workers 10 years after the end of long-term, high-level exposure to

metallic mercury (Barregard et al. 1990).

Mercury’s toxic effects are pronounced in the nervous systems and brains of

exposed children, and can damage organs and cause seizures in adults. According to

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (1999), permanent damage to the

brain has also been shown to occur from exposure to sufficiently high levels of metallic

mercury. Vapors of metallic mercury and its organic compounds (e.g. dimethylmercury,

methylmercury) may affect many different areas of the brain and their associated

functions, resulting in a variety of symptoms. These include personality changes

(irritability, shyness, and nervousness), tremors, changes in vision (constriction or

narrowing of the visual field), deafness, muscle incoordination, loss of sensation, and

difficulties with memory.

8
 The kidneys are also sensitive to the effects of mercury, because mercury

accumulates in the kidneys and causes higher exposures to these tissues, and thus more

damage. Monosson (2007) notes that animals given inorganic mercury salts by mouth for

most of their lifetime had increases in some kinds of tumors at the highest dose tested.

Rats and mice that received organic mercury (methylmercury and phenylmercury) in

their drinking water or feed for most of their lives had an increased incidence of cancer of

the kidney, but this affected only the males that received the highest amount of mercury

given (not the females).

If taken through consumption of mercury-contaminated animals, the person is at

risk of Minamata disease: a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.

Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness,

narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases,

insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms.

(Wikipedia, 2012)

A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses in the womb (Wikipedia,

2012). Mercury has various health effects on developing child of a pregnant woman.

Methylmercury that is in the blood of a pregnant woman will easily move into the blood

of the developing child and then into the child’s brain and other tissues. When mercury

reaches the brain, the mercury can remain there for a long time. Impacts on cognitive

thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been

seen in children exposed to Mercury in the womb. Some of the methylmercury in a

woman’s body can be passed to her child through her breast milk. (Agency for Toxic

Substances and Disease Registry, 1999). The National Research Council (2000), in its

9
report on the toxicological effects of methylmercury, went on to estimate that more than

60,000 children are born each year at risk for adverse neurodevelopmental effects due to

in utero exposure to methylmercury.

According to the reports in Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

(1999) of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children who breathe

metallic/elemental mercury vapors, eat foods or other substances containing

phenylmercury or inorganic mercury salts, or use mercury-containing skin ointments for

an extended period may develop a disorder known as acrodynia, or pink disease.

Not only that mercury affects humans, but mercury brings a great risk to wildlife

and marine life. Animals exposed orally to long-term, high levels of methylmercury or

phenylmercury in laboratory studies experienced damage to the kidneys, stomach, and

large intestine; changes in blood pressure and heart rate; adverse effects on the

developing fetus, sperm, and male reproductive organs; and increases in the number of

spontaneous miscarrages and stillbirths. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2010)

Bioremediation and Phytoremediation

According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011), to “bioremediate”,

means to use living things to solve an environmental problem such as contaminated soil

or groundwater. Some microorganisms that live in soil and groundwater naturally eat

certain chemicals that are harmful to people and the environment. The microorganisms

are able to change these chemicals into water and harmless gases, such as carbon dioxide.

The approaches are, however, expensive costing in USA alone at least $7 billion for

heavy metals (the total cost to clean all hazardous wastes in USA is at least $400 billion)

10
(Gupta, 2009). Therefore, alternatives to conventional remediation methods (including

microbial bioremediation as discussed earlier) are being sought. However, not all

contaminants are readily treated through the use of bioremediation; for example, heavy

metals such as mercury cannot be completely detoxified or degraded by microorganisms.

The mercury stays in their tissues and will be passed to higher levels of the food chain

through consumers. The integration of metals such as mercury into the food chain may

make things worse. (Transgalactic Ltd, 2005)

However, the use of phytoremediation, i.e. use of plants for environmental clean-

up, provides such an alternative (Gupta, 2009). Phytoremediation is the use of living

green plants for in situ risk reduction and/or removal of contaminants from contaminated

soil, water, sediments, and air. Phytoremediation is an energy efficient, aesthically

pleasing method of remediating sites with low to moderate levels of contamination and it

can be used in conjuction with other more traditional remedial methods as a finishing step

to the remedial process (http://arabidopsis.info). It requires less equipment and less labor

since plants do most of the work. The root system of plants also plays an important role;

it holds the contaminated soil to prevent the spread of pollution, as well as avoiding

landslides and flash floods. The most important advantage is that plants can directly be

planted on a contaminated site, restoring it to its original condition without contaminating

another (International Service for the Aqcuisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, 2006).

There are a number of sites in the plant that could be controlled by different genes

contributing to the hyperaccumulation trait (ability of plants to grow on metalliferous

soils and to accumulate high amounts of heavy metals in the aerial organs (Rascio, 2010))

(Agricultural Research Magazine, 2000). However, phytoremediation is not without its

11
faults, it is a process which is dependent on the depth of the roots and the tolerance of the

plant to the contaminant. Exposure of animals to plants which act as hyperaccumulators

can also be a concern to environmentalists as herbivorous animals may accumulate

contaminated particles in their tissues which could in turn affect a whole food web.

(http://arabidopsis.info)

The good thing is, the use of Painted fingernail (Neoregelia spectabilis) as a

phytoremediator is a very good option because there is still no known prone consumer of

N. spectabilis because it is not attractive to animals (Carmignani et al. 1989) as a result of

its coarse texture and spiny leaf margin (Gilman, 1999). Therefore, it can avoid the entry

of mercury to the food chain.

Taxonomy of Painted fingernail (Neoregelia spectabilis)

Neoregelia spectabilis, commonly known as Painted fingernail or fingernail plant,

is classified in the order Poales; a member of the family Bromeliaceae (Bromeliad

plants) in the subfamily Bromelioideae which originated from Brazil and is now a

common plant in the Philippines. The perennial and herbaceous (Gilman, 1999) plant

belongs to the division Magnoliophyta in the class Liliopsida in the subclass commelinids

(Hortorium, 1976). It has a maximum height of one and a half feet and a spread of two

feet.

Properties of Painted fingernail (Neoregelia spectabilis)

Neoregelia spectabilis are ideal phytoremediators because they have an amazing

adaptability. They exhibit this quality in many ways. They do not seem to mind being

transported, dried out, or starved; they can take abuse, half of which could kill many
12
another plant. A small off-shoot can be separated from its mother with little or no after-

effect to either one (Foster, 1973). Plus, it is a very good option of plant because there is

still no known prone consumer of N. spectabilis because it is not attractive to animals

(Carmignani et al. 1989) and according to Royal Horticultural Society (2011),

N. spectabilis is generally disease-free. Its leaves are evergreen and it is not affected by

the four different seasons. It can tolerate alkaline, acidic, and metallic soil and it has a

long-term health and is not usually affected by pests. (Gilman, 1999) Some Bromeliads,

like N. Spectabilis can live for decades (Duffy, 2011).

The ability of N. spectabilis to easily adapt to extreme environment, to fragment

quickly (form of their reproduction), and its resistance to diseases and biological

consumers makes it an ideal phytoremediator to bioaccumulate metallic mercury from the

soil.

2.3 Conceptual Framework

The study comprised two sets of variables: the independent variable which included the

different ages (determined by the color of the tip of their leaves) of Painted fingernail

(Neoregelia spectabilis) and the different media where the accumulation process of

metallic mercury took place; and the dependent variable which was the amount of

mercury in N. spectabilis.

13
 INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

Different Ages of Neoregelia

SpectabilisYoung MatureDifferent
Media where Mercury
Accumulation took PlaceIn the
container with soil and mercuryIn
the container with mercury (without
soil) In the container with soil but
without mercury (Control)

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Amount of Mercury in Neoregelia

spectabilis

Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of the Study

Definition of Terms

Deals with the removal

Remediation
of pollution or contaminants from environmental medi

a such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water.

Any process that generally uses microorganisms or
Bioremediation
their enzymes to return the environment altered by

contaminants to its original condition.

14
 Bioremediator The agents that can remove or neutralize contaminants,

as in polluted soil or water.

The bioremediation process which uses various types

Phytoremediation of plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, and/or

destroy contaminants in the soil and groundwater.

A plant used to remove and stabilize the contaminants
Phytoremediator
in the soil or ground and surface waters.
The process by which organisms (usually plants)

Bioaccumulation accumulates a harmful substances in order to restore

the environment to its original condition.

A ventilation device that is designed to limit exposure

to hazardous or noxious fumes, vapors or dusts. A

fume hood is typically a large piece of equipment

Fume Hoods
enclosing five sides of a work area, the bottom of

which is most commonly located at a standing work

height.
Routinely used in analytical chemistry (commonly

carried out in solutions) for

Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-VIS)
the quantitative determination of different analytes,
Spectrophotometer
such as transition metal ions, highly conjugated organic

compounds, and biological macromolecules.

Bromeliad In the study, this refers to the plant Neoregelia

spectabilis which is commonly called “Bromeliad”;

belonging to family Bromeliaceae

15
 in the subfamily Bromelioideae.

16