Mercury

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The heavy metal mercury is classified as toxic, carcinogenic and hazardous to water. It is often used in liquid form ( manometers, thermometers, pumps, rectifiers, switches, fluorescent tubes, energy-saving lamps, etc.), as a paint pigment (vermilion) or as a wood preservative. In nature, it is bound in biomass, raw materials (e.g. limestone) and fuels (especially coal), among other things, and is released back into the atmosphere when they are processed or burned, until it finds its way back into soils and biomass with the precipitation.