Methylmercury is the most toxic form among mercury compounds in the aquatic ecosystem,and poses health risks to organisms through the food chain. The effective control of methylation processes of mercury is an active research field in environmental chemistry and toxicology. Selenium(Se)has a significant suppression effect on the methylation processes of mercury(Hg). Therefore,it will be beneficial to the prevention and control of mercury contamination to clarify the speciation characteristic of mercury and the interaction mechanisms between mercury and selenium in the aquatic ecosystem. Mercury toxicity is closely associated with the levels of selenium in organisms,the interaction between Hg and Se are mainly embodied in the formation of insoluble compounds to contribute mercury demethylation or methylmercury directly ruled out by inhibition of biological a selenium related enzyme,which inhibits the toxic effect of mercury. In this paper,the speciation and distribution characteristics of mercury and selenium in the aquatic ecosystem and their interaction mechanisms were reviewed. Meanwhile,the reasonable addition of selenium compounds into water will be an effective way to inhibit the methylation processes of mercury in organisms. The development direction for the studies of interaction mechanisms between mercury and selenium and its physical effects in organisms were also reviewed.%甲基汞是汞存在于水生生态系统(水体、沉积物和水生生物)毒性最强的形态,并通过食物链的传递对生物体产生危害,因此有效控制汞的甲基化过程是汞环境化学和毒理学研究的重要课题.生物体内硒对汞的甲基化过程有明显的抑制作用,明确汞和硒在水生生态系统的形态特征以及汞 - 硒相互作用机制,有助于解决汞污染问题.汞在生物体内的毒性与生物体内硒含量紧密相关,汞与硒相之间的相互作用主要表现在生成不溶的化合物促使汞去甲基化或受生物体内硒相关酶抑制被直接排除于生物体外,从而抑制了汞的毒害作用.本文评述了汞、硒在水生生态系统中的形态特征,指出在水体中合理添加硒化合物可抑制无机汞在生物体内甲基化过程,深入研究生物体内汞和硒相互作用机制及其生理效应是该领域未来发展方向.
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