Excerpts: Mercury in the environment changes the way birds sing.
In children exposed in the womb, methylmercury causes problems with speech, language development, learning, and memory. So understanding why mercury-contaminated songbirds can’t sing their songs could help scientists learn more about how human brains are damaged, too.
“Methylmercury can affect the very motor functions that control speech—something that may have a parallel in the bird world,” said Philippe Grandjean, a Harvard University environmental health scientist who led pioneering research on the IQs of mercury-exposed children.