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AbstractThis article presents a comparative policy analysis of housing arrangements for migrant caregivers and farmworkers before and during COVID-19. By Juxtaposing structural conditions and industrial sectors, we explore the link between housing and labour migration regime, analysing its implications on migrant workers’ living conditions. Despite substantial differences in housing arrangements, prioritising employers’ needs and ethnonational values over migrant workers’ well-being and rights places migrant workers in both sectors at risk of exploitation. Crisis conditions, such as COVID-19, exacerbate the vulnerability of migrant workers to exploitation. By unpacking the repercussions of disparities between official rights-based housing policy and their implementation, this article seeks to contribute to the literature on the intersection between labour migration and housing policies. Rooted in a structural perspective on labour exploitation, we argue that bridging these disparities and preventing exploitation, while improving migrant workers’ living conditions, requires policymakers to address power imbalances between employers and migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kinetic redox model is used to examine the impact of microbial mercury reduction in the production of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) and also its role in mercury biogeochemistry in Arctic coastal waters. The results have highlighted the importance of microbial redox transformations in the biogeochemical cycling, toxicity and mobility of mercury in polar regions.

The extent of horizontally transferred [P.sub.IB]-type ATPases in bacterial isolates cultured from subsurface soils with a history of radionuclide and heavy metal contamination is examined. The results have shown that dissemination of [P.sub.IB]-type ATPases by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has occurred among isolates representing the Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla present in metal- and radionuclide-contaminated soils of the Field Research Centre (FRC).

Mercury (Hg) methylation, methylmercury (MeHg) demethylation, and inorganic redox transformations of Hg are microbe-mediating processes that determine the fate and cycling of Hg and MeHg in many environments, and by doing so influence the health of humans and wild life. The discovery of the Hg methylation genes, hgcAB, in the last decade together with advances in high throughput and genome sequencing methods, have resulted in an expanded appreciation of the diversity of Hg methylating microbes. This review aims to describe experimentally confirmed and recently discovered hgcAB gene-carrying Hg methylating microbes; phylogenetic and taxonomic analyses are presented. In addition, the current knowledge on transformation mechanisms, the organisms that carry them out, and the impact of environmental parameters on Hg methylation, MeHg demethylation, and inorganic Hg reduction and oxidation is summarized. This knowledge provides a foundation for future action toward mitigating the impact of environmental Hg pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusion of the regulatory region of the mercury resistance gene and the luminescence gene from Vibrio fischeri provides a novel method in the determination of bioavailable mercury since bacteria expressing this recombinant gene fluoresce in the presence of mercury. Investigations employing this bioindicator suggest that dissolved organic carbon and salinity are inversely related to the level of bioavailable mercury.

The widespread problem of mercury contamination in south Florida has prodded authorities and researchers to develop measures to stop the causes of mercury accumulation. Eutrophication has been suggested as one of the major causes of methylmercury accumulation in the peat soils of the Everglades due to their high phosphorus concentration. However, analysis of agricultural runoff show that eutrophication has no effect on methylmercury formation in peat soils.