<Opinion>

Methylmercury is not used today in any industrial process -that I'm aware of-. This question goes back to the origins of metallic mercury and its uses. Now, a good part of atmospheric mercury has a natural origin from volcanic activity and stuff like that, the other source is burning fossil fuels like carbon for energy generation.

In the scope of mercury emissions- point sources of metallic and inorganic mercury are urgent to address since those pollute directly and quickly aquatic systems. Gold mining is the predominant cause of this type of peaks of mercury pollution in aquatic systems and consequently MeHg increments, threatening the health and food security of downstream communities. Even today when Hg for gold amalgamation is mostly prohibited, artisanal and small scale gold mining with Hg accounts for a third of the global Hg pollution while providing almost a quarter of all the world's gold demand [5].