Chen, Celia Y

Driscoll, Charles T

Lambert, Kathy

Mason, Robert P

Rardin, Laurie

English

Syracuse University Research Facility and Collaborative Environment

Syracuse University SURFACE Civil and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering and Computer Science 2012 Marine Mercury Fate: From Sources to Seafood Consumers Celia Y. Chen Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College Charles T. Driscoll Syracuse University Kathy Lambert Harvard Forest, Harvard University Robert P. Mason Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut Laurie Rardin Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/cie  Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Chen, Celia Y., Driscoll, Charles T., Lambert, Kathleen F., Mason, Robert P., Rardin, Laurie R., Serrell, Nancy, & Sunderland, Elsie M. (2012). Marine mercury fate: From sources to seafood consumers. Environmental Research, 119(0), 1-2. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.10.001 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Engineering and Computer Science at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Civil and Environmental Engineering by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact surface@syr.edu.    Chen et al., p. 1EDITORIAL: Marine mercury fate: from sources to seafood consumers  1 Celia Y. Chen  2 celia.Y.Chen@Dartmouth.edu 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New 4 Hampshire, USA;  5 Charley Driscoll 6 ctdrisco@syr.edu 7 Department of Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA 8 Kathy Lambert 9 klambert01@fas.harvard.edu 10 Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, Massachusetts, USA;  11 Robert P. Mason 12 robert.mason@uconn.edu 13 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Avery Point, 14 Connecticut, USA;  15 Laurie Rardin 16 laurie.r.rardin@dartmouth.edu 17 Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program, Dartmouth College, 18 Hanover, New Hampshire, USA;  19 Nancy Serrell 20 nancy.serrell@dartmouth.edu 21 Office of the Provost, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA;  22 Elsie Sunderland 23    Chen et al., p. 2Elsie_sunderland@harvard.edu 24 Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Harvard 25 University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. 26  27 28    Chen et al., p. 3Mercury in the biosphere has markedly increased over the past century leading 29 governments around the world to consider policies that would reduce sources to 30 limit human exposure to this global contaminant. The nine articles in this issue 31 provide a synthesis of the science on the sources, fate, and human exposure to 32 mercury (Hg) in marine systems. These papers along with two papers recently 33 published in Environmental Health Perspectives are the products of two 34 workshops convened by the Coastal and Marine Mercury Ecosystem Research 35 Collaborative (C-MERC) sponsored by the Dartmouth Superfund Research 36 Program.  In September 2010 and July 2011 we brought together scientists and 37 policy stakeholders to compile and distill information on the inputs, cycling and 38 uptake of Hg in marine ecosystems and the links to fish, wildlife and human 39 exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), the most bioaccumulative form of this global 40 contaminant. The goal of this C-MERC effort was to provide a summary of the 41 current science relevant to public policies being considered at the regional, 42 national and global level, such as the effort of the United Nations Environment 43 Programme to establish the first International Mercury Treaty.  44  45 Seven papers in this special issue review the pathways and transformations of 46 Hg and MeHg from sources to seafood consumers in specific marine 47 ecosystems.  These include: the Gulf of Maine (Sunderland et al. 2012),;the Gulf 48 of Mexico (Harris et al. 2012a, b); San Francisco Bay (Davis et al. 2012); the 49 Arctic Ocean (Kirk et al. 2012),;Tropical Oceans (Costa et al. 2012); and the 50 global oceans (Mason et al. 2012 ). The paper by Driscoll et al. (2012) presents a 51    Chen et al., p. 4conceptual model of interactions between Hg cycling and nutrient loading in 52 marine ecosystems and the paper by Lambert et al. (2012) provides a review of 53 Hg science on marine ecosystems and implications for policy. The C-MERC 54 papers published in Environmental Health Perspectives focused on human 55 health effects of low level methylmercury (MeHg) exposure (Karagas et al. 2012) 56 and on the complexities of providing clear, unified fish consumption advice (Oken 57 et al. 2012).  58  59 Coal burning and energy production along with mining and industrial activities 60 have led to increased mercury in the environment (Mason et al. 1994; Driscoll et 61 al. 2007; Selin et al. 2008). Mercury is ranked third on the Agency for Toxic 62 Substances and Disease Registry’s priority list of contaminants that pose 63 significant human health threats to the U.S. population (ATSDR 2007). More than 64 90 percent of Hg exposure in the U.S. comes from consumption of estuarine and 65 marine fish contaminated by MeHg, the most bioavailable form (Sunderland 66 2007; Chen et al. 2008). This exposure is the result of consuming higher trophic 67 level fish, which generally have higher MeHg concentrations, in combination with 68 more frequently eaten lower trophic level species (e.g., pollock, crabs, shrimp).  69 Due to this widespread human exposure, all 50 U.S. states have established fish 70 consumption advisories for Hg, and most U.S. coastal states on the Atlantic 71 Ocean have statewide coastal advisories (USEPA 2008; Schmeltz et al. 2011). 72 Though most people in the U.S. are exposed to MeHg through consumption of 73 open ocean fish, coastal populations have higher exposure through 74    Chen et al., p. 5local/subsistence consumption of regional coastal fisheries. 75  76 Ocean systems included in this special issue represent a broad range of 77 management challenges for MeHg contamination due to 1) physical 78 characteristics, 2) dominant Hg sources and MeHg inputs, and 3)  different 79 human fish consumption patterns.  The relative contribution of different sources 80 of Hg (direct atmospheric inputs, watershed inputs, and exchange at the ocean 81 system boundaries) varies greatly but tends to scale with ocean system size; the 82 larger the water surface area, the more significant are direct atmospheric sources 83 and in situ water column production of MeHg, and the less dominant are 84 watershed and coastal point sources.  85  86 Offshore Hg concentrations in open ocean fish are determined by direct 87 atmospheric inputs, which are transferred via lateral currents to sites of Hg 88 methylation. As a result, MeHg levels in open ocean fish reflect atmospheric 89 deposition on a global scale (Mason et al. 2012, this issue). Modeling studies and 90 measurements suggest that while Hg in the open oceans and MeHg in ocean fish 91 will decrease immediately in response to decreases in atmospheric emissions it 92 will take many decades for these reductions to be fully realized.  These declines 93 will benefit the general population of fish consumers who tend to eat grocery 94 store fish harvested from the open ocean (e.g., canned tuna).  95  96    Chen et al., p. 6Marine inshore Hg levels are primarily influenced by coastal and watershed 97 inputs (e.g., point source discharges, legacy contamination, and indirect 98 atmospheric inputs). However, there are also substantial differences across 99 coastal regions in their ability to convert inorganic Hg to MeHg. Hg 100 concentrations of fish in coastal waters have been shown to respond in the short 101 term to control of local Hg discharges which are methylated in coastal sediments. 102 Coastal monitoring data suggest that the measurable impacts on fish MeHg 103 concentrations will yield benefits to local fishers who consume recreationally 104 caught fish from adjacent coastal waters (Sunderland et al. 2012, this issue).  105  106 Hg fate and bioavailability in marine systems and associated human exposure 107 are also affected by confounding factors such as nutrients and climate change. A 108 conceptual model testing for interactions of nitrogen inputs and Hg bioavailability 109 indicates that increased nutrient concentrations relate to decreased Hg and 110 MeHg in marine organisms (Driscoll et al. 2012, this issue). Climate change will 111 also alter marine ecosystems in ways that will influence Hg fate but these 112 impacts are not yet fully understood. Melting sea ice in the Arctic will alter food 113 webs and mercury biomagnification by forcing animals such as Arctic cod that 114 normally live beneath the ice to feed instead in surface waters where mercury is 115 more available (Kirk et al. 2012, this issue). Changes in ocean temperatures will 116 also alter zones of MeHg production in the open ocean as well as ocean currents 117 that transport Hg between ocean basins.  These confounding factors suggest 118 that need for greater attention and resources for mercury monitoring in coastal 119    Chen et al., p. 7and marine systems in order to accurately assess the efficacy of national and 120 international policy and associated declines in Hg inputs (Evers et al. 2008; 121 Lambert et al. 2012). 122  123 Scientific research on Hg fate, and MeHg production and bioaccumulation has 124 had an important role in informing and motivating policy. However, a number of 125 challenges particular to MeHg fate and transport in marine systems have 126 hindered progress in the policy arena (Lambert et al. 2012). These challenges 127 will benefit from a strong  international agreement that addresses: the 128 transboundary nature of Hg including an emphasis on atmospheric emissions; 129 expanded cost benefit analyses that account for the human and ecological health 130 effects of MeHg,;investment in management trials for mitigating the on-going 131 contamination of legacy sources; and a comprehensive and integrated global 132 mercury monitoring network with periodic assessments (Lambert et al. 2012).  133  134 Current research indicates that mercury contamination of marine systems has 135 important implications for human health. Fortunately, as policy makers gather to 136 discuss remedies at all scales of government, a large body of mercury research 137 can inform their decision-making. This special issue on mercury in marine 138 ecosystems is the product of a group of scientists and stakeholders who 139 participated in the C-MERC effort to bring science to the policy table. 140  141   142    Chen et al., p. 8Literature Cited 143  144 ATSDR. 2007. CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances. 145 Available: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cercla/07list.html [accessed 13 146 September 2011]. 147 Chen, C.Y., Serrell, N., Evers, D.C., Fleishman, B.J., Lambert, K.F., Weiss, J., 148 Mason, R.P., Bank, M.S.  2008. Methylmercury in marine ecosystems: 149 From sources to seafood consumers – A workshop report.  Environ. 150 Health Perspectives 116: 1706-1712. 151 Costa, M., Barrocas, P., Barletta, M., Kehrig, H., Malm, O., Hacon, S., Moreira, 152 J., Vasconcellos, A.C., Landing, W., Evers, D., Buck, D., Holmes, C. 2012. 153 Are we changing Mercury cycling patterns in tropical and subtropical 154 coastal environments? Environmental Research, this issue. 155 Davis, J., Yee, D., Looker, R.E., Yee, D., Marvin-diPasquale, M., Grenier, L., 156 Austin, C., McKee, L., Greenfield, B., Brodberg, R. Reducing 157 methylmercury accumulation in the food webs of San Francisco Bay and 158 its local watersheds. Environmental Research, in review. 159 Driscoll, C.T., Han, Y.J., Chen, C.Y., Evers, D.C., Lambert, K.F., Holsen, T.M., 160 Kamman, N.C., Munson, R.K. 2007. Mercury contamination in forest and 161 freshwater ecosystems in the Northeastern United States. Bioscience 162 57(1): 17-28. 163 Driscoll, C.T., Chen, C.Y., Hammerschmidt, C.R., Mason, R.P., Gilmour, C.C., 164 Sunderland, E.M., Greenfield, B.K., Buckman, K.L., Lamborg, C. H. 2012. 165 Nutrient supply and mercury dynamics in marine ecosystems: A 166 conceptual model. Environmental Research, this issue. 167 Evers, D.C., Mason, R.P., Kamman, N.C., Chen, C.Y., Bogomolni, A.L., Taylor, 168 D.L., Hammerschmidt, C.R., Jones, S.H., Burgess, N.M., Munney, K. 169 Parson, K.C. 2008. An integrated mercury monitoring program for 170 temperate estuarine and marine ecosystems on the North American 171 Atlantic Coast. Ecohealth 5: 426-441.  172 aHarris, R., Pollman, C., Hutchinson, D., Landing, W., Axelrad, D., Morey, S.L., 173 Dmitry Dukhovskoy, D., Vijayaraghavan, K. 2012. A screening model 174 analysis of mercury sources, fate and bioaccumulation in the Gulf of 175 Mexico. Environmental Research, this issue. 176 bHarris, R., Pollman, C., Landing, W., Evans, D., Axelrad, D., Hutchinson, D., 177 Morey, S., Rumbold, D., Dukhovskoy, D., Adams, D., Vijayaraghavan, K., 178 Holmes, C., Atkinson, D., Myers, T., Sunderland, E. 2012. Mercury in the 179 Gulf of Mexico: Sources to Receptors. 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The National Listing of Fish Advisories. 220 Available: http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/fishadvisor221 ies/index.cfm [accessed 13 September 2011]. 222  223  224  225 Corresponding Author: Celia Chen, celia.chen@dartmouth.edu, Department of 226 Biological Sciences, HB 6044, Class of ’78 Life Sciences Center, Dartmouth 227 College, Hanover, NH 03755 228 

Marine Mercury Fate: From Sources to Seafood Consumers

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Marine Mercury Fate: From Sources to Seafood Consumers

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