May 2012

Developmental methylmercury exposure affects avoidance learning outcomes in adult zebrafish

The present study investigated the neurobehavioral effects of embryonic exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) in zebrafish using avoidance conditioning as the behavioral paradigm. In this study, adult zebrafish developmentally exposed as embryos to 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.1, or 0.3 µM of MeHg were trained and tested for avoidance responses. The results showed that control zebrafish hatched from embryos unexposed...

Author(s): Xiaojuan Xu, Crystal Lamb, Melanie Smith, Lillian Schaefer, Michael J. Carvan III, and Daniel N. Weber

May 2012

Heavy metal contamination risk through consumption of traditional food plants growing around Bindura town, Zimbabwe

Mining activities are a leading cause of heavy metal contamination of soils and food plants leading to health risk fears. The concentration of heavy metals in soils, Bidens pilosa and Fadogia ancylantha in the vicinity of Bindura town were investigated. Results show that heavy metal concentration of soils and plants found around Bindura town was higher than that of the control area where there were...

Author(s): P. Dzomba, S. Nyoni and N. Mudavanhu