Methylmercury in arctic Alaskan mosquitoes: implications for impact of atmospheric mercury depletion events
Chad R. Hammerschmidt A C and William F. Fitzgerald BA Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435, USA.
B Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT 06340, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: chad.hammerschmidt@wright.edu
Environmental Chemistry 5(2) 127-130 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN08003
Submitted: 4 January 2008 Accepted: 22 February 2008 Published: 17 April 2008
Environmental context. Recent research suggests that gross mercury deposition in the Arctic is increased significantly as a result of springtime Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE). A primary environmental and human health concern is whether mercury deposited with these events leads to enhanced production and uptake of the toxic methylmercury species in polar ecosystems. Here, we present an initial assessment of potential impact from AMDE utilising mosquitoes as bioindicators of methylmercury accumulation in freshwater and terrestrial food webs within 200 km of the Arctic Ocean.
Abstract. Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE) – phenomena in which elemental Hg is oxidised and stripped from the atmosphere over an 8–12-week period following polar sunrise – appear to increase Hg deposition to environs near the Arctic Ocean with a lesser impact inland. A key concern is whether such events lead to enhanced production and uptake of the toxic methylmercury (MeHg) species into arctic food webs. Here, we used mosquitoes, which are sensitive and site-specific bioindicators of Hg loadings, to assess the impact of AMDE on ecosystem MeHg contamination along a 200-km transect between the Arctic Ocean coast and foothills of the Brooks Range, where gross atmospheric Hg deposition appears to be ~20-fold less than that near the coast. This preliminary survey revealed little variation and no gradient in mosquito MeHg levels, which suggests comparable ecosystem impact. This may also point to significant cycling and reemission (e.g. via photoreduction) of Hg deposited during AMDE from the snow and ice pack to the atmosphere.
Additional keywords: atmospheric deposition, bioavailability, biological monitoring.
Acknowledgments
Allan Hutchins assisted with mosquito collections in July 2007. We are grateful to Alison Green and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. The present study was supported by the USA National Science Foundation – Office of Polar Programs (0425562).
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