Mercury in the San Francisco Estuary - Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - page 33

Table 1 (continued)

Hg T ( µ g g −1 ),

range (mean), MeHg, ( µ g g −1 ),

Species Tissue wet weight wet weight Notes

Mammals

Pacific harbor seal Blood 0.015-1.4 0.068-2.9 Pups, juveniles,

( Phoca vitulina

Hair 0.41-93 and adults

richardii ) g

Liver 0.15-160 from Central

and Northern

California,

2003-2005.

Concentrations

are typically

highest in

adults.

House mouse Liver 0.02-4.0 Small mammals

( Mus musculus ) h

collected from

tidal salt marsh

habitat

dominated by

pickleweed

( Salicornia

virginica ).

Deer mouse Liver 0.05-1.1

( Peromyscus
maniculatus )

California vole Liver 0.02-0.12

( Microtus caliJbrnicus )
ND, not detected.
a Guideline for human consumption is 0.23

µ g g −1 (Davis et al., 2002).

b Davis et al. 2002; Fairey et al. 1997.
c Lonzarich et al. 1992; Schwarzbach et al. 2006.
d Lowest observed adverse effect concentrations (LOAEC) is 0.50

µ g g −1 (Schwarzbach et al.

2006).
e Hoffman et al. 1998; Hothem et al. 1998; Takekawa et al. 2002.
f Dry weight.
g Brookens et al. 2007.
h Clark et al. 1992.

bass, and white sturgeon (Davis et al. 2002; Fairey et al. 1997; Greenfield et al. 2005).
Concentrations in several species of fish are statistically higher in Oakland Harbor
than in other locations in the estuary (Davis et al. 2002; Meador et al. 2005). Despite
its drastic reduction in use over the past few decades, mercury concentrations in
striped bass in the estuary show no long-term decrease since the 1970s (Greenfield
et al. 2005).
To complement these studies on fish mercury concentration, a report on fish con-
sumption in the San Francisco Bay area was conducted by the California Department
of Health Services (SFEI 2000). Based on a survey of 1300 San Francisco Bay