Mercury in mires

• This chapter illustrates that a better understanding of the behavior of mercury in the environment is needed for a number of reasons. For example, increased biomagnification of mercury in aquatic food chains, especially in fish, and enhanced accumulation in remote areas such as the Arctic have been observed in the last few decades. Mercury toxicity in aquatic ecosystems is of particular concern, with the role of methylmercury (MeHg) being critical. This compound can be concentrated by more than a million times in the aquatic food chain. Biogeochemical studies and monitoring programs that include direct measurements of wet deposition or indirect measurements based on biomonitoring of forest mosses, have established that anthropogenic activities have affected the global cycling of mercury. Although a precise link has yet to be made between the increased content of mercury in biota and the increased accumulation rates observed in natural environmental archives, such as peat, lake sediments, and glacial ice, there is broad consensus that these archives provide a means to reconstruct atmospheric deposition trends at local, regional, and global scales.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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