Mercury contamination in wildlife has rarely been studied in the Southern Appalachians despite high deposition rates in the region. From 2006 to 2008 we sampled feathers from 458 birds representing 32 species in the Southern Appalachians for total mercury and stable isotope δ (15)N. Mercury concentrations (mean ± SE) averaged 0.46 ± 0.02 μg g(-1) (range 0.01-3.74 μg g(-1)). Twelve of 32 species...

Seafood mislabeling distorts the true abundance of fish in the sea, defrauds consumers, and can also cause unwanted exposure to harmful pollutants. By combining genetic data with analyses of total mercury content, we have investigated how species substitutions and fishery-stock substitutions obscure mercury contamination in Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), also known as "Chilean...

Mercury is a global pollutant that biomagnifies in food webs, placing wildlife at risk of reduced reproductive fitness and survival. Songbirds are the most diverse branch of the avian evolutionary tree; many are suffering persistent and serious population declines and we know that songbirds are frequently exposed to mercury pollution. Our objective was to determine the effects of environmentall...

Carcinus maenas is an important and exploited natural resource in temperate estuaries, being consumed by local populations and also used as fish bait. Through bioaccumulation and bioamplification processes occurring in polluted estuarine ecosystems, this species may directly or indirectly represent a major pathway for Human contamination. No information is available on the overall lifespan bioa...

Mercury is a ubiquitous metal contaminant that negatively impacts reproduction of wildlife and has many other sub-lethal effects. Songbirds are sensitive bioindicators of mercury toxicity and may suffer population declines as a result of mercury pollution. Current predictions of mercury accumulation and biomagnification often overlook possible genetic variation in mercury uptake and elimination...

This paper describes a novel approach for analysis of mercury speciation in fish using gas chromatography coupled with microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (GC-MIP-OES) in surfatron resonant cavity. Sample treatment was based on quantitative leaching of mercury species from fish tissue with ultrasound-assisted acidtoluene extraction. The extracted mercury species analyzed with...

The speciation and partitioning of mercury from two Spanish pulverized coal (co) combustion (PCC) power plants equipped with wet limestone-based flue gas desulphurization facilities (FGD) have been evaluated in this work. The results were obtained by simultaneously sampling the solid, liquid and gaseous streams in the power plants and by determining the mercury content in the representative sam...

Background: Mercury (Hg) is a major environmental contaminant due to its global ubiquity, tendency to bioaccumulate, and toxicity in wildlife. Mercury accumulation in wetlands threatens critical breeding and foraging habitats of many fish and wildlife species. In this study, mercury concentrations were detected in different tissues of pike. Methods: To achieve these purposes, 58 pikes (Esox l...

Considerable attention has been devoted to contaminants (mainly PCBs and mercury) in subsistence foods (particularly fish) from various parts of the world. However, relatively little attention has been devoted to examining mercury levels in a full range of subsistence foods from a particular region. While managers and scientists compute risk based on site-specific data on contaminant levels and...

Mercury concentrations in feather, liver, kidney, and muscle tissue of Little egret (n = 8) and Cattle egret (n = 3) from Shadegan Wetlands in south-western Iran were examined. Liver of Little egret had significantly higher mercury compared to Cattle egret (p < 0.05). In addition, mercury values were consistently larger in Little egret when compared to Cattle egret, but mercury levels found in ...