Rolling on the river
Transport and transformation of mercury effects everyone
Humber River. Source: Wikimedia Commons
How does water move? This is the question that motivates geography professor Brian Branfireun at the University of Toronto Mississauga — but not just for its own sake. He’s interested in the transport and transformation of mercury in the environment.
Mercury is a natural element that exists in forms that aren’t particularly toxic. It’s only when it goes through a series of chemical transformations that it becomes what’s called methyl mercury, which is the kind that bioaccumulates in fish and acts as a central nervous system toxin in humans.
The question is how — and where — this transformation happens.
“We have to figure out how and where water is moving first,” he says. “But we also know that mercury doesn’t move as water moves. It is conveyed by water but it can also be delayed through a whole range of biological and chemical interactions.”
Branfireun is deeply committed to the public health outcomes of his scientific work, and hopes to influence public policy. The lives of humans and animals depend on it, he says.
“We can choose to fish. If people go to the cottage and fish for pickerel, they can choose to eat that fish. But an otter has to eat a fish. A loon has to eat a fish. Similarly, people who live in the Canadian north don’t really have a choice. They have traditional access to food that is aquatic.
“I try to place my work in the context of vulnerable communities, both animal and human. I’m motivated by both ecosystem integrity and human exposure.”
