Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Process, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China; Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Chemosphere. 2021 Jul;274:129728. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129728. Epub 2021 Jan 25.
Mercury, especially in the form of methylmercury (MeHg), is a global pollutant, and aquatic products are considered the main sources of Hg exposure to humans. The Bohai and Yellow seas are two important epicontinental seas for marine fisheries and aquaculture in China. A decreasing trend of the THg in the Yellow River Estuary toward the outer edge was reported according to 83 surface sediments (27.3 ± 15.0 ng g) and 3 sediment cores from the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. The relatively higher THg levels in the central Yellow Sea can be primarily attributed to higher organic carbon levels and finer-grained sediment sizes and partly to the particulates from the riverine input of the Yellow River driven by the currents. An increasing trend in THg levels since industrialization in north China around the Bohai and Yellow seas, and a decreasing trend of Yellow River THg input in recent years were recorded by sediment cores. The spatial distribution pattern of surface sediments MeHg (161 ± 130 pg g) was different from that of THg. A higher MeHg content and MeHg/THg ratio were found in the Bohai and Yellow seas compared to the East China Sea, and extremely high MeHg levels (714 pg g) were found in the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM) area, which is considered an important region for fishery and marine breeding, suggesting that more attention should be paid to the potential ecological and human health risks in the region due to mercury exposure.
汞，特别是甲基汞（MeHg），是一种全球性污染物，而水产品被认为是人类接触汞的主要来源。渤海和黄海是中国海洋渔业和水产养殖的两个重要边缘海。根据对渤海和黄海的 83 个表层沉积物（27.3±15.0ng/g）和 3 个沉积物岩芯的研究，报道了黄河口向外部边缘的总汞（THg）呈下降趋势。黄海中部相对较高的 THg 水平主要归因于较高的有机碳水平和较细的沉积物粒径，部分原因是黄河携带的河流输入颗粒物受海流驱动。通过沉积物岩芯记录到，自渤海和黄海周边地区工业化以来，THg 水平呈上升趋势，近年来黄河 THg 输入量呈下降趋势。表层沉积物 MeHg（161±130pg/g）的空间分布模式与 THg 不同。与东海相比，渤海和黄海的 MeHg 含量和 MeHg/THg 比值较高，而在黄海冷水团（YSCWM）区域发现了极高的 MeHg 水平（714pg/g），该区域被认为是渔业和海洋养殖的重要区域，这表明由于汞暴露，该区域的潜在生态和人类健康风险应引起更多关注。
