<abstract> <p>Our paper reviews the current understanding of mercury in the environment of soil and sediment, including sampling, mobilization phases and analyzing methods. As a dangerous trace element, mercury has been shown to have several harmful effects on the environment. Mercury is released into the environment in a variety of chemical forms by both geogenic and human activities, with the majority of it coming from anthropogenic sources. It is affected by environmental conditions such as pH, redox potential, light and temperature-all of which determine its final chemical form-reactivity and toxicity. Methylmercury is considered one of the most poisonous forms found in nature. Considering the methodologies of the studies carried out we have found that the best technique for preserving methylmercury in soil and sediment samples is to freeze it immediately after collection. Organically rich soils are related to higher total mercury levels. Plants, such as Solanum nigrum (BR3) and Cynodon dactylon (BR2), can play an important role in mercury transport and accumulation. Solid-phase selenium causes faster demethylation and slower methylation of mercury. Methylmercury can increase by climate change and thawing; arctic permafrost is a potential source of Hg. Chemical vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to develop a simple and quick method for measuring methylmercury; ultrasonic agitation and HNO₃ were used for the process, the last of which proved to be the most efficient for selective extraction of methylmercury.</p> </abstract>

As so ci ate Ed i tor: Beata Jaworska-SzulcWe re view the cur rent en vi ron men tal pol lu tion by mer cury in the soils of Po land and Lith u a nia and in the sed i ments of the Bal tic Sea. Mer cury is doc u mented to have many neg a tive im pacts on the en vi ron ment as a toxic trace el e ment. In many differ ent chem i cal forms, it is be ing re leased into the en vi ron ment by both geogenic and anthropogenic ac tiv i ties, with most being re leased from anthropogenic sources. Methylmercury is con sid ered one of the most toxic forms found in the en vi ron ment. Mer cury lev els in sed i ment and var i ous point sources in creased af ter World War II in the Bal tic Sea, which was used as a dumpsite. Pre vi ous stud ies show no tice able dif fer ences in to tal mer cury in the Bal tic Sea. In the Warta and Odra rivers in Po land, mer cury lev els are also higher than the back ground value, though re cent find ings sug gest that river sed iments are not the main source of mer cury to ma rine sed i ments. Con cen tra tions in soils in Po land and Lith u a nia were be low the level of limit val ues (1 and 1.5 mg/kg -1 re spec tively), but Up per Silesia showed con cen tra tions (up to 4.01 mg • kg -1 ) above the limit val ues. Fur ther more, be tween 1992 and 2006, mer cury lev els in Wroc³aw dropped dra mat i cally. The dom inant trees in the area can af fect mer cury ac cu mu la tion. No data were avail able for com par i son with the soils in Es to nia and Lat via.