Elevated mercury levels in a wintering population of common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in the northeastern United States

•Eiders in Plum Island Sound had significantly higher blood Hg than other locations.•Blood Hg levels from Plum Island Sound are the highest reported for this species.•Prey item Hg levels from capture locations were also highest in Plum Island Sound.•Significant relationship between eider and mussel...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 86; no. 1-2; pp. 229 - 237
Main Authors:	Meattey, Dustin E., Savoy, Lucas, Beuth, Josh, Pau, Nancy, O’Brien, Kathleen, Osenkowski, Jason, Regan, Kevin, Lasorsa, Brenda, Johnson, Ian
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 15-09-2014 Elsevier
Subjects:	Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Animals Applied ecology Bioavailability Biological and medical sciences Bivalvia - metabolism Blood Common eider Concentration (composition) Contaminants Ducks Ducks - metabolism Ecology Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution Environmental Monitoring - methods Environmental Monitoring - statistics & numerical data Environmental Pollutants - blood Food Chain Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Geography Invertebrates Marine Marine and brackish environment Mercury Mercury (metal) Mercury - blood Mollusca Mollusks Mytilus edulis New England Pollution abatement Prunus Sea ducks Sea water ecosystems Somateria mollissima Synecology United States North America America New England USA ANW, USA, New England ANE, Europe ANW, USA, Massachusetts, Plum Island Sound Mollusks Common eider Contaminants Mercury Blood Sea ducks Somateria mollissima Overwintering North Eastern States (USA) Anatidae Marine environment Vertebrata Aves Invertebrata Mollusca Contaminant Northeast
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	•Eiders in Plum Island Sound had significantly higher blood Hg than other locations.•Blood Hg levels from Plum Island Sound are the highest reported for this species.•Prey item Hg levels from capture locations were also highest in Plum Island Sound.•Significant relationship between eider and mussel Hg in Maine and Massachusetts. In North America and Europe, sea ducks are important indicators of ecological health and inshore marine pollution. To explore spatial variation in mercury accumulation in common eiders in the northeastern United States, we compared concentrations of total mercury in common eider blood at several New England locations between 1998 and 2013. Eider food items (mollusks) were collected and analyzed to determine if mercury concentrations in eider blood were indicative of local mercury bioavailability. Eiders from Plum Island Sound, MA had a significantly higher mean blood mercury concentration (0.83μg/g) than those in other locations. Mean mercury levels in this population were also nearly three times higher than any blood mercury concentrations reported for common eiders in published literature. We observed consistent patterns in eider blood mercury and blue mussel mercury concentrations between sites, suggesting a tentative predictive quality between the two species.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0025-326X 1879-3363
DOI:	10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.07.015