Skyllberg, Ulf, et al. “Elevated Concentrations of Methyl Mercury in Streams after Forest Clear-Cut: A Consequence of Mobilization from Soil or New Methylation?” Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 43, no. 22, 15 Oct. 2009, pp. 8535–8541., doi:10.1021/es900996z.

A prominent area of concern for environmental scientists is water, and how modern advancements in technology and the culture surrounding it have contributed to polluting our water sources. The inherency of this subject leads many scientists to examine the origins of chemicals in water and determine how to best reduce the amount of pollutants that make it into the water source. This journal, titled “Elevated Concentrations of Methyl Mercury in Streams After Forest Clear-Cut: A Consequence of Mobilization from Soil or New Methylation?” written by Swedish scholars Ulf Skyllberg, Mattias Bjorkman Westin, Markus Meili, and Erik Bjorn, analyzes the reason for an increased concentration of mercury in streams. It is normal for organisms to become “methylated”, meaning that they absorb mercury from their environment (most likely emitted from fossil fuel combustion), but recently, areas with younger clear-cuts have been found with higher concentrations of methylated mercury than their older counterparts. Thus, this experiment seeks to find the difference in mercury based on the age of the clear-cuts in the path. There are a lot of important variables to control for in this experiment, one of the most important being measuring clear-cuts above and below the highest postglacial coastline (HC). In addition, if the site experiences any runoff from other sources, the effect of the runoff must be negligible to allow for the final results to be as accurate as possible. This journal conclusively decided that concentrations of methylated mercury were significantly higher in streams draining off of the younger clear-cuts, leading the authors to assume that the mobilization of mercury from soil is the primary cause for the polluted streams. However, there is also cause to believe that sulfur deposits in the stream allowed for greater solubility of mercury in the streams, and therefore increases the concentration of the mercury. In the grand scheme of things, pollution from fossil fuels has affected our waterways and will continue to affect us in ways that are not entirely visible to the naked eye.