Mercury Levels In Pacific Fish May Double By 2050, Scientists Call Pollution ‘A Global Atmospheri...

[Eugene]

Source: International Business Times

Mercury Levels In Pacific Fish May Double By 2050, Scientists Call Pollution 'A Global Atmospheric Problem'

By Zoe Mintz
on August 26 2013 9:39 AM

Scientists have discovered new truths about mercury contamination in fish.

According to new research from the University of Michigan and the University of Hawai'i, scientists have learned that fish experience mercury contamination in deep ocean and expect mercury levels to rise in the Pacific Ocean the coming decades.

"In the next few decades there will be changes in mercury concentrations in the Pacific Ocean, and those changes are likely to be different for surface waters than for deep waters," Brian Popp, co-author of a new study published Aug. 25 in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience, said.

The team at the University of Michigan came to the conclusion by using a mass spectrometer to measure the ratios of stable isotopes of mercury in nine species of marine fish that feed at different depths. At the University of Hawai’i, scientists sampled fish from various depths, measured the amount of mercury in their muscle tissues, and determined their position in the marine food chain.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/mercury-levels-pacific-fish-may-double-2050-scientists-call-pollution-global-atmospheric-problem

[hunter]

1. Let's not forget: Mercury has a half-life of FOREVER.

Of course the greenhouse gases from fossil fuels will probably damage more of us, and faster too.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Ocean fish acquire more mercury at depth, research ascertains

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=5925

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Ocean fish acquire more mercury at depth, research ascertains[/font]

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Talia Ogliore, [phone]
Public Information Officer, Vice Chancellor for Research
Brian Popp, [phone]
Professor, Geology and Geophysics
Posted: Aug 26, 2013

[font size=3]Mercury—a common industrial toxin—is carried through the atmosphere before settling on the ocean and entering the marine food web.

Now, exciting new research from the University of Michigan and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) combines biogeochemistry and direct marine ecology observations to show how the global mercury cycle is colliding with ocean fish—and the human seafood supply—at different depths in the water.

Mercury accumulation in the ocean fish we eat tends to take place at deeper depths, scientists found, in part because of photochemical reactions that break down organic mercury in well-lit surface waters. More of this accessible organic mercury is also being generated in deeper waters.

“A few years ago, we published work that showed that predatory fish that feed at deeper depths in the open ocean, like opah and swordfish, have higher mercury concentrations than those that feed in waters near the surface, like mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna," said Brian Popp, professor of geology and geophysics at UH Mānoa, and a co-author of a new paper scheduled for online publication August 25, 2013, in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. "We knew this was true, but we didn't know why."

…[/font][/font]

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1918

[phantom power]

3. The biological half-life of Hg in nerve tissue is ~20 years

I'm unclear if that also applies to fatty-tissues. Whatever it is, it's long enough that Hg bio-concentrates at a high rate up the food chain.

The half-life in blood is about 60 days.

[hunter]

4. Enough to make you a mad hatter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hatter