Mercury in Barents Sea fish in the Arctic polar night: Species and spatial comparison

Gopakumar, Anjali; Giebichenstein, Julia; Расхожева, Е. В.; Borgå, Katrine

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112501

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sub-Arctic and Atlantic pelagic fish have higher temperature tolerances and generally benefit from warmer water temperatures . Interestingly, Hg concentrations in polar cod muscles sampled in the east of the Barents Sea were 2.8-fold higher than in capelin, whereas in Atlantic cod, Hg concentrations were 3.2-fold higher than in capelin . Similar results were reported in the Canadian Arctic, with total Hg in polar cods that was higher than in capelin .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…89 Interestingly, Hg concentrations in polar cod muscles sampled in the east of the Barents Sea were 2.8-fold higher than in capelin, whereas in Atlantic cod, Hg concentrations were 3.2-fold higher than in capelin. 90 Similar results were reported in the Canadian Arctic, with total Hg in polar cods that was higher than in capelin. 91 From 2013 to 2019, the occurrence of Atlantic herring in Kongsfjorden kittiwake diet has often been above 20% (I. Eulaers and G.W.…”

Section: ■ Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A U-Turn for Mercury Concentrations over 20 Years: How Do Environmental Conditions Affect Exposure in Arctic Seabirds?

Tartu

Blévin

Bustamante

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mercury (Hg) is highly toxic in its methylated form (MeHg), and global change is likely to modify its bioavailability in the environment. However, it is unclear how top predators will be impacted. We studied blood Hg concentrations of chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla (2000–2019) in Svalbard (Norway). From 2000 to 2019, Hg concentrations followed a U-shaped trend. The trophic level, inferred from nitrogen stable isotopes, and chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations better predicted Hg concentrations, with positive and U-shaped associations, respectively. As strong indicators of primary productivity, Chl a concentrations can influence production of upper trophic levels and, thus, fish community assemblage. In the early 2000s, the high Hg concentrations were likely related to a higher proportion of Arctic prey in kittiwake’s diet. The gradual input of Atlantic prey in kittiwake diet could have resulted in a decrease in Hg concentrations until 2013. Then, a new shift in the prey community, added to the shrinking sea ice-associated release of MeHg in the ocean, could explain the increasing trend of Hg observed since 2014. The present monitoring provides critical insights about the exposure of a toxic contaminant in Arctic wildlife, and the reported increase since 2014 raises concern for Arctic seabirds.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: ■ Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

A U-Turn for Mercury Concentrations over 20 Years: How Do Environmental Conditions Affect Exposure in Arctic Seabirds?

Tartu

Blévin

Bustamante

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, thawing permafrost and increased riverine flux will deliver high iHg inputs to the Arctic shelves. Recent work has suggested increased Hg uptake in benthic feeding-organisms on the Arctic shelf 49 . We anticipate that seasonal scavenging during autumn and winter months will deliver larger amounts of iHg to shelf sediments, driving increased benthic MeHg production and MeHg accumulation in the future Arctic Ocean.…”

Section: Implications For the Arctic Hg Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic Ocean’s wintertime mercury concentrations limited by seasonal loss on the shelf

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High biota mercury levels are persisting in the Arctic, threatening ecosystem and human health.The Arctic Ocean receives large pulsed mercury inputs from rivers and the atmosphere. Yet, the fate of those inputs and possible seasonal variability of mercury in the Arctic Ocean remain uncertain. Until now, seawater observations were only possible during summer and fall. Here we report polar night mercury seawater observations on a gradient from the shelf into the Arctic Ocean. We observed lower and less variable total mercury concentrations during the polar night (0.46 ± 0.07 pmol L -1 ) compared to summer (0.63 ± 0.19 pmol L -1 ) and no significant changes in methylmercury concentrations (summer, 0.11 ± 0.03 pmol L -1 and winter, 0.12 ± 0.04 pmol L -1 ).Seasonal changes were estimated by calculating the difference in the integrated mercury pools.We estimate losses of inorganic mercury of 208 ± 41 pmol m -2 d -1 on the shelf driven by seasonal particle scavenging. Persistent methylmercury concentrations (-1 ± 16 pmol m -2 d -1 ) are likely driven by gaseous species and a lower affinity for particles. Our results update the current understanding of Arctic mercury cycling and require budgets and models to be reevaluated with a seasonal aspect. MAIN TEXTThe Arctic Ocean and its biota exhibit elevated levels of toxic mercury (Hg) 1 despite an absence of important local anthropogenic sources. Mercury is delivered to surface waters of the Arctic Ocean through atmospheric deposition, inputs from other oceans, riverine discharge, snow and sea ice melt 2 . High inputs of mainly inorganic mercury (iHg) coincide with the Arctic's biologically active summer season 3 . However, data on inter-and intra-seasonal Hg concentrations in the Arctic Ocean, especially during the winter, is lacking so far. The discovery of springtime atmospheric Hg depletion events 4 over 20 years ago highlighted a distinct seasonal aspect to Hg biogeochemical

show abstract

“…Считают, что источником 80-90 % MeHg для человека являются рыба и другие гидробионты, употребляемые в пищу [Немова и др., 2014]. По известным данным, содержание MeHg в мышцах камчатского краба может достигать 100 % от общей Hg [Julshamn et al, 2015], а в морской рыбе 80-99 % [Gopakumar et al, 2021].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Уровню содержания Hg в промысловых рыбах и её воздействию на ихтиофауну Северной Атлантики и Западной Арктики в последнее время посвящено значительное число исследований [Jardine et al, 2009;Julshamn et al, 2011;Немова и др., 2014;Моисенко, Гашкина, 2016;Bank et al, 2021;Gopakumar et al, 2021;Новиков и др., 2023]. Данные по изучению содержания Hg в промысловых беспозвоночных встречаются заметно реже, при этом ряд авторов указывает на неполноту этих исследований [Julshamn et al, 2015;Наревич, Ковековдова, 2017;Лебедева и др., 2018;Ervik et al, 2020;McCormick et al, 2020].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Mercury content in commercial crustaceans of the Barents Sea

Novikov,

Gorbacheva,

Kharlamova

2024

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to identify the total mercury content in the muscle and hepatopancreas of the main commercial crustaceans from the Barents Sea.The material for this study was the samples of red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus and northern shrimp Pandalus borealis caught during the research cruises conducted by “PINRO” from 2012 to 2022. This study examines the samples of muscle collected from crustaceans, as well as the samples of hepatopancreas collected from the red king crab.Novelty: This study involves abundant data that was used to make the first comparative analysis of the Hg concentration in red king crab and northern shrimp. A significant similarity in the levels of Hg content in the muscle of shrimp and crab at the mean level was shown. The paper provides maps of average Hg content in the studied species for the entire Barents Sea.Methods used: the total mercury content in the samples was estimated by flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis using Shimadzu Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Japan). Statistical data processing and charting were done using MS Excel and application software package of Statistica 13.Results: The paper shows that the average concentration of Hg in the muscle and hepatopancreas of the studied hydrobionts did not exceed 0.2 mg/kg of wet weight that is the acceptable concentration established by sanitary standards. The content of Hg in the red king crab’ hepatopancreas was about 2 times higher than in the muscle. The paper makes an assumption on the species-specifity of Hg content in the red king crab’ muscle. The Hg content in the muscle of P. borealis is strongly related to its fattiness. The paper suggests calculated background levels of the total Hg concentration in the muscle of P. camtschaticus and P. borealis from the Barents Sea.Practical relevance: The results obtained were used to establish the safety compliance of commercial crustaceans with the requirements adopted in Russia.

show abstract

Mercury in Barents Sea fish in the Arctic polar night: Species and spatial comparison

Cited by 10 publications

References 57 publications

A U-Turn for Mercury Concentrations over 20 Years: How Do Environmental Conditions Affect Exposure in Arctic Seabirds?

A U-Turn for Mercury Concentrations over 20 Years: How Do Environmental Conditions Affect Exposure in Arctic Seabirds?

Arctic Ocean’s wintertime mercury concentrations limited by seasonal loss on the shelf

Mercury content in commercial crustaceans of the Barents Sea

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About