Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 10
Mercury in the Marine Environment
FRANK J. BLACK, CHRISTOPHER H. CONAWAY,
and A. RUSSELL FLEGAL
Mercury in Marine Mammals
Mercury in Marine Birds
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN HEALTH CONCERNS
MERCURY IN SALINE WATERS
Mercury in Estuarine and Coastal Waters
Mercury in the Open Ocean
MERCURY IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
Mercury in Arctic Marine Ecosystems
Mercury in Antarctic Ecosystems
Mercury in Open Oceanic Ecosystems
Mercury in Nearshore and Coastal Ecosystems
Mercury in Coastal Wetland Ecosystems
IMPORTANCE OF MONOMETHYLMERCURY IN THE MARINE
ENVIRONMENT
Sources and Sinks of Monomethylmercury in the
Marine Environment
External Sources of Monomethylmercury to the
Marine Environment
Internal Sources of Monomethylmercury
Sinks for Monomethylmercury in the Marine Environment
Mass Balance of Monomethylmercury in the Oceans
LONG-TERM CHANGES OF MERCURY
IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
Measuring Human Impacts on Mercury
Concentrations in Biota
Long-Term Changes of Mercury in the Marine Environment
Models of Mercury Cycling
Measuring Changes in Biota
MERCURY IN MARINE ORGANISMS
Mercury in Phytoplankton
Mercury in Zooplankton
Mercury in Macroinvertebrates
Mercury in Fish
CONCLUSION
The study of mercury in marine ecosystems is necessary to
understand and minimize the chronic, sublethal toxicity
due to exposure to organomercury in the marine environ-
ment and marine resources. The combination of the complex
biogeochemical cycling of mercury with similarly complex
marine ecologic processes make this study challenging,
requiring a multitude of scientifi c approaches to answer spe-
cifi c questions about mercury in marine ecosystems. Some
of these questions relate to fi sh consumption, with the most
obvious being “Which fi sh are the healthiest to eat” and “Is
there a limit to how much is healthy?” Other questions relate
to the source of mercury in the marine environment and the
degree to which the mercury found in fi sh is from anthro-
pogenic versus natural sources. These questions, in turn, are
related to our ability to mitigate mercury contamination in
the marine environment and potential increases in mercury
concentrations in fi sh. In addition, there is a need to under-
stand how long-term and large-scale trends in marine ecosys-
tems affect the biogeochemical cycling of mercury. In this
chapter, we discuss some of these questions and summarize
information on mercury in marine ecosystems, including the
sources of mercury in marine environments, the transforma-
tion and methylation of mercury, its uptake into biological
systems, and its biomagnifi cation in marine food webs.
Environmental and Human Health Concerns
The primary motivations for researching mercury in the
environment are related to its toxicity. The majority of
the human population lives within 100 km of the ocean,
