Phenylmercuric acetate: metabolic conversion by microorganisms.

Phenylmercuric acetate, an organomercurial that has been widely used as a fungicide and slimicide, was found to be metabolized quickly by soil and aquatic microorganisms. One of the major metabolic products was identified to be diphenylmercury. In none of the cases has a methylmercury derivative been found among the microbial metabolic products of phenylmercuric acetate.