**1. Introduction**

In the late 1950s, people and animals of a Japanese fishing village, called Minamata fell ill one after another and suffered from the same symptoms then died [1, 2]. The Japanese government named this strange disease "Minamat" and announced officially that its cause was the consumption of fish and shellfish that contained high levels of methyl-mercury due to mixing the bay water therein with industrial wastes coming from a chemical factory [3]. Since then, the scientists and government administrators tried hard to avoid a repeat of such type of incidents [4]. Mercury (Hg) is one of the 10 leading worldwide chemicals of concern [5, 6]. This element is denoted by the symbol "Hg" with atomic number equal to 80. Its melting point is −38.83°C while the boiling point is 356.73°C. In the periodic table, only Hg is a metal found in a liquid state at standard temperature and pressure [6]. Generally, mercury level increases progressively in the environment due to anthropogenic activities [7]. All mercury forms that are released during mining and other industries will eventually wind up in soils or surface water representing a potential threat to human health, and the surrounding ecosystem. Every living organism, in the environment (humans, animals, and plants to the smaller ones such as bacteria), is vulnerable to the effects of mercury poisoning. As a result, countries stand to lose millions of dollars in earning potential every year due to mercury contamination.
