Human Health Criteria - Methylmercury

The 2001 methylmercury human health criterion is a concentration of methylmercury in fish that EPA calculated to protect human health. States and tribes may use the criterion as the basis for establishing their water quality standards.

• Federal Register Notice: 2001 Final Methylmercury Criterion (January 8, 2001)
• Fact Sheet: Water Quality Criterion for the Protection of Human Health: Methylmercury (pdf) (211.13 KB, January 2001, EPA 823-F-01-001)
• Water Quality Criterion for the Protection of Human Health: Methylmercury (pdf) (1004.47 KB, January 2001, EPA 823-R-01-001)  

Final Implementation Guidance

This implementing guidance provides technical guidance to states and authorized tribes on how they may want to use Water Quality Criterion for the Protection of Human Health: Methylmercury in their surface water protection programs (e.g., TMDLs, NPDES permitting). The guidance addresses questions related to water quality standards adoption (e.g., site-specific criteria, variances), assessments, monitoring, TMDLs, and NPDES permitting. The guidance consolidates existing EPA guidance where relevant to mercury.

• Fact Sheet: Guidance for Implementing the January 2001 Methylmercury Water Quality Criterion (April 2010)
• Guidance for Implementing the January 2001 Methylmercury Water Quality Criterion (pdf) (3.12 MB, April 2010, EPA 823-R-10-001)

EPA's Mercury homepage provides a broad range of information about mercury.