Legacy groundwater pollution as a source of mercury enrichment in marine food web, Haifa Bay, Israel

Shoham-Frider, Efrat; Gertner, Yaron; Guy‐Haim, Tamar; Herut, Barak; Kress, Nurit; Shefer, Edna; Silverman, Jacob

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136711

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The structure of the area surrounding the bay provides an ideal habitat for many fish species and is currently well fished by artesian fishermen. Between 1956 and 2003, effluents containing Hg were directly released by a chlor‐alkali plant, resulting in a corresponding chemical signature observed in the bay's fish populations (Herut et al., 1996; Shoham‐Frider et al., 2020). This raised concerns with respect to human health, and sales of the commercial fish white seabream ( Diplodus sargus ) from the bay were reduced between 1979 and 1981 (Krom et al., 1990).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The discharge load has since decreased following enforced regulation by Israel, resulting in a relaxation in the Hg signature and environmental levels in the harbor have been deemed acceptable since 1991 (Herut et al., 1996, 2012). However, monitoring efforts by the national monitoring program have since discovered that current inactive chlor‐alkali plants are still passively releasing Hg into the bay, resulting in sudden spikes of the chemical signature in marine biota caught from Haifa Bay (Shoham‐Frider et al., 2020). With the potential of sudden acute exposure, this emphasizes the importance of consistent evaluations of seafood reaching the public from local fisheries.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A survey of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead residues in seafood (fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods) from the south‐eastern Mediterranean Sea

Ramon

Morick

Croot

et al. 2021

Journal of Food Science

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Seafood is capable of bioaccumulating heavy metals (HM), making it a potentially major dietary source of HM for humans. Presently, little data exists on seafood from the eastern‐most boundary of the Mediterranean Sea. This study aims to provide exposure insight of the Israeli population to HM through the consumption of locally caught seafood by assessing the levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead in raw tissues of seafood. A wide survey of local fisheries was conducted providing 296 samples from 11 different species, including seven fish, two crustacean, and two cephalopod species. Total arsenic, cadmium, and lead were analyzed by graphite‐furnace atomic absorption. Total mercury was measured by cold‐vapor mercury analyzer. Arsenic speciation was performed by anion chromatography‐inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry. Results suggested that the total arsenic concentrations were significantly higher in crustaceans and cephalopods than fish. Arsenic speciation revealed two samples that exceed 1 mg/kg of inorganic arsenic, whereas methylated arsenic was below the detection limit. Elevated mercury levels were detected in the commercial benthic species Mullus barbatus (red mullet), cadmium was detected in one‐third of the samples, and lead detected in eight samples. Comparing the results to health guidelines, 99.4% of seafood tested in this study abide with acceptable levels of heavy metals in seafood, as defined by both Israeli and European Union guidelines.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead residues in seafood (fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods) from the south‐eastern Mediterranean Sea

Ramon

Morick

Croot

et al. 2021

Journal of Food Science

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“…Pollution effects on populations of benthic assemblages span from changes in structure to demise and local extinction [58]. Although discharges into the environment (mostly sewage sludge) occur at multiple sites along the Israeli coastline, Haifa Bay is the single pollution hotspot due to heavy metal contamination, still present due to contaminated groundwater even 20 years after the cessation of discharges [59]. Because of this potential bias, Haifa Bay was not included in our sampling design (electronic supplementary material, figure S1).…”

Section: Discussion (A) Biodiversity Collapse and Its Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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Global warming causes the poleward shift of the trailing edges of marine ectotherm species distributions. In the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, continental masses and oceanographic barriers do not allow natural connectivity with thermophilic species pools: as trailing edges retreat, a net diversity loss occurs. We quantify this loss on the Israeli shelf, among the warmest areas in the Mediterranean, by comparing current native molluscan richness with the historical one obtained from surficial death assemblages. We recorded only 12% and 5% of historically present native species on shallow subtidal soft and hard substrates, respectively. This is the largest climate-driven regional-scale diversity loss in the oceans documented to date. By contrast, assemblages in the intertidal, more tolerant to climatic extremes, and in the cooler mesophotic zone show approximately 50% of the historical native richness. Importantly, approximately 60% of the recorded shallow subtidal native species do not reach reproductive size, making the shallow shelf a demographic sink. We predict that, as climate warms, this native biodiversity collapse will intensify and expand geographically, counteracted only by Indo-Pacific species entering from the Suez Canal. These assemblages, shaped by climate warming and biological invasions, give rise to a ‘novel ecosystem’ whose restoration to historical baselines is not achievable.

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“…Nonetheless, benthic carbon source originating in lateral transport from the shallow shelf to the deep-sea, as indicated here, may carry detrimental implications to the ecosystem via pollutant accumulation and biomagnification (Liu et al, 2020). This is particularly important in marginal seas that are prone to anthropogenic pollution (Kim et al, 2019;Shoham-Frider et al, 2020). Continuous studies should be undertaken to further unveil the implications of lateral transport and benthic carbon regeneration to deep-sea food webs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic ecology of deep-sea megafauna in the ultra-oligotrophic Southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Guy‐Haim

Stern

Sisma-Ventura

2022

Preprint

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The trophic ecology of fourteen species of bathybenthic and bathypelagic fishes and six species of bathybenthic decapod crustaceans from the continental slope and rise of the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) was examined using stable isotope analysis. Mean δ13C values among fish species varied by more than 4.0‰, from -20.85‰ (Macroramphosus scolopax) to -16.57‰ (Conger conger and Centrophorus granulosus), and increased as a function of depth (200 - 1400 m). Mean δ13C values of the crustaceans showed smaller variation, between -16.38‰ (Polycheles typhlops) and -18.50‰ (Aristeus antennatus). This suggests a shift from pelagic to regenerated benthic carbon sources with depth. Benthic carbon regeneration is further supported by the low benthic-pelagic POM-δ13C values, averaging -24.7 ± 1.2‰, and the mixing model results, presenting a very low contribution of epipelagic POM to the bathyal fauna. Mean δ15N values of fish and crustacean species ranged 7.91 ± 0.36‰ to 11.36 ± 0.39‰ and 6.15 ± 0.31‰ to 7.69 ± 0.37‰, respectively, resulting in trophic position estimates, occupying the third and the fourth trophic levels. Thus, despite the proximity to the more productive areas of the shallow shelf, low number of trophic levels (TL ≈ 1.0) and narrow isotopic niche breadths (SEAc <1) were observed for bathybenthic crustaceans (TL = 3.62 ± 0.22) and bathypelagic fishes (TL = 4.33 ± 0.34) in the study area — probably due to the ultra-oligotrophic state of the SEMS resulting in limited carbon sources. Our results, which provide the first trophic description of deep-sea megafauna in the SEMS, offer insight into the carbon sources and food web structure of deep-sea ecosystems in oligotrophic marginal seas and can be further used in ecological modeling and support the sustainable management of marine resources in the deep Levantine Sea.

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Legacy groundwater pollution as a source of mercury enrichment in marine food web, Haifa Bay, Israel

Cited by 21 publications

References 64 publications

A survey of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead residues in seafood (fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods) from the south‐eastern Mediterranean Sea

A survey of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead residues in seafood (fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods) from the south‐eastern Mediterranean Sea

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean

Trophic ecology of deep-sea megafauna in the ultra-oligotrophic Southeastern Mediterranean Sea

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