Environmental fate and trophic transfer of synthetic musk compounds and siloxanes in Geum River, Korea: Compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids for accurate trophic position estimation

Ecological Traits of Fish for Mercury Biomonitoring: Insights from Compound-Specific Nitrogen and Stable Mercury Isotopes

“…60,61 This is also supported by the slightly more elevated Δ 200 Hg observed in LB at the YS River relative to other riverine systems. The LB at the GM River have elevated δ 15 N Phe and the lowest Δ 199 Hg, consistent with anthropogenic N and Hg releases 52,53,76 as well as the highest level of industrialization (Table S2). The wide δ 15 N Phe and Δ 199 Hg ranges in LB at the ND River appear to reflect mixtures of multiple N and Hg sources, explained by its largest riverine and watershed sizes encompassing both remote mountains and urban locations.…”

“…51 Similarly elevated δ 15 N Phe (∼10‰) have recently been reported in fish collected proximity to a wastewater treatment facility and downstream of the GM River. 52 Mussels collected from anthropogenically impacted coasts of South Korea have also shown elevated δ 15 N Phe of ∼9‰, 53 which have been attributed to high δ 15 N bulk (>12‰) in effluents of sewage treatment facilities. 54,55 The elevated δ 15 N Phe are also similar to the samples of terrestrial litter (C3 plants), representative of a terrestrial source end-member (8.3 and 14.1‰).…”