Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Forbes Building, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 61842, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2013 Aug;185(8):6485-94. doi: 10.1007/s10661-012-3040-z. Epub 2013 Jan 9.
Documenting long-term trends in mercury deposition and/or accumulation is important in setting regulatory benchmarks, modeling contaminant transfer and flux, measuring success of environmental controls, and even assigning responsibility for pollution. We conducted a study to compare mercury concentrations in small fishes from "high-mercury" and "low-mercury" regions of Illinois, as well as to examine historic patterns of mercury availability using preserved fishes. Mercury concentrations were greater in four species of small fishes collected from a stream in a "high-mercury" region than in those same taxa collected from a stream in a "low-mercury" area in Illinois. Mercury concentrations in blackstripe topminnows (Fundulus notatus) declined dramatically between 1900 and 1961/2006 in the "high-mercury" stream, presumably due reductions in mercury releases from local and regional sources. Preserved fish had an apparent increase in mercury concentrations for up to 12 months, which is consistent with changes in mass and loss of proteins observed in other studies, and we recommend that recent samples be preserved for at least 12 months before comparison with older fluid-preserved material. Based on our results, further studies of mercury in small fishes in Illinois streams appear warranted.
记录汞沉积和/或积累的长期趋势对于制定监管基准、模拟污染物转移和通量、衡量环境控制的成功以及甚至确定污染责任都很重要。我们进行了一项研究，比较了来自伊利诺伊州“高汞”和“低汞”地区的小鱼中的汞浓度，以及使用保存的鱼类来检查汞可用性的历史模式。从“高汞”地区的溪流中收集的四种小鱼的汞浓度明显高于从伊利诺伊州“低汞”地区的同一溪流中收集的相同分类群的汞浓度。“高汞”溪流中的黑条纹脂鲤（Fundulus notatus）的汞浓度在 1900 年至 1961/2006 年间急剧下降，这可能是由于当地和区域来源的汞排放量减少所致。保存的鱼类的汞浓度在长达 12 个月内出现明显增加，这与其他研究中观察到的质量变化和蛋白质损失一致，我们建议在将近期样本与较旧的液体保存材料进行比较之前，至少保存 12 个月。基于我们的结果，伊利诺伊州溪流中小鱼中的汞进一步研究似乎是合理的。
