How to Use methylmercury in a Sentence

methylmercury

noun
  • Back in the lab, the couple spawned them and raised the embryos in water containing methylmercury.
    — Carrie Arnold, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2021
  • One other person also was exposed to methylmercury from the same skin cream, but her symptoms were much less severe.
    — Erin Allday, SFChronicle.com, 25 Dec. 2019
  • It’s not metabolized into methylmercury, which is in fish and shellfish.
    — Joseph Choi, The Hill, 26 June 2025
  • Either way, methylmercury could be absorbed by things living in the water, including plants and shellfish.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2020
  • Face creams often contain mercury salts, but the woman’s toiletry item contained much stronger methylmercury iodide.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Bacteria in water and soil can transform mercury into another form, called methylmercury, which builds up in the food chain.
    — Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
  • The oceans absorb this airborne mercury, and microorganisms convert the metal into a form called methylmercury.
    — Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Fish and shellfish concentrate mercury in their bodies, usually in the toxic form of methylmercury.
    — Lindsey Desoto, Rd, Health, 9 Sep. 2024
  • Once mercury gets into the water, it’s converted into toxic methylmercury and consumed by fish.
    — Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 15 Feb. 2023
  • In the woman’s case, health officials found the organic mercury compound methylmercury in her skin cream, which is more dangerous.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2019
  • The potential negative effects of methylmercury in fish are far smaller than the adverse effects of eating too little fish.
    — Jaclyn London, Ms, Rd, Good Housekeeping, 27 Mar. 2018
  • The woman had purchased a product labeled as Ponds Rejuveness, to which had been added the methylmercury.
    — Erin Allday, SFChronicle.com, 25 Dec. 2019
  • The authors of the MMWR report note that this is the first time that methylmercury has shown up in skin-lightening creams.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2019
  • But methylmercury that has started to accumulate in the region thanks to human endeavors is more dangerous.
    — Jill Langlois, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Three years after researchers stopped adding mercury, the concentration of methylmercury in the water dropped by 81 percent.
    — Rasha Aridi, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Dec. 2021
  • Bacteria in the bay converted the inorganic toxin into more noxious form of methylmercury.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2020
  • This decision was based on what levels were considered safe for methylmercury (the kind in fish), which is structurally very different from the ethylmercury found in thimerosal.
    — Lauren Gelman, Parents, 21 Nov. 2025
  • The mercury in the air is disbursed widely through the atmosphere and ends up in waters, where bacteria convert the substance into methylmercury, which is a form that can be absorbed by fish.
    — Dennis Pillion | [email protected], al, 2 Dec. 2019
  • Beyond the skin cream, the most common source of methylmercury exposure is from eating fish, which essentially accumulate it from polluted food.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2019
  • Older fish are high in the neurotoxin methylmercury, which is especially dangerous to children and pregnant women.
    — Terry Spencer, Star Tribune, 12 May 2021
  • Mercury, particularly in the form of methylmercury, can be toxic to the body, particularly the nervous system.
    — Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2015
  • Lab analysis found an average of three times more methylmercury in the Santa Cruz mountain lions than in cougars living in less foggy inland regions.
    — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, 26 Nov. 2019
  • For example, when pregnant people eat fish contaminated with the organic form, methylmercury, the toxin can harm their fetuses.
    — Bridget Alex, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Initial re-analysis of 717’s brain turned up a mix of carbon-free, inorganic mercury molecules and methylmercury.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2020
  • Most of the mercury was in the most toxic form to humans, methylmercury, thus such an increase is troubling, even though the 2008 levels were still considered safe to consume.
    — Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2015
  • Initial studies in the 1960s linked the toxicity to a molecule made of mercury and carbon called methylmercury.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2020
  • Humans who eat fish that have eaten smaller aquatic life with methylmercury in their bodies can potentially be exposed to dangerous levels of methylmercury that acts like a neurotoxin.
    — Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 12 Feb. 2025
  • In pregnant women, methylmercury can cross the placenta and negatively affect fetal brain development.
    — David Kirby, Discover Magazine, 17 Mar. 2011
  • Most of the fish are safe to eat, at least occasionally; the state warns against eating certain species with high levels of toxins including PCBs, or methylmercury.
    — Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Artisanal miners in the region also use methylmercury to separate gold from other substances, which contaminates water, soil, and the plants and animals that depend on them.
    — Jill Langlois, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'methylmercury.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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