| Project Title |  |
| Historical trends of
total mercury in arctic marine biota.
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| Research Team | |
| P. Outridge, Geological
Survey of Canada, Ottawa. P.I. Email: outridge@NRCan.gc.ca Collaborators: A.S. Dyke, R. McNeely (Geological Survey of Canada)
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| Project Summary | |
| Rationale: Mercury is present in
measurable quantities in both natural environmental matrices and anthropogenic releases.
There is on-going debate about the extent to which, if at all, Hg from distant industrial
sources has elevated Hg concentrations in Canadian arctic food chains, including those of
importance to human consumers of country foods. One means of distinguishing natural from
anthropogenic Hg sources in any specific environment is to examine the historical trends
of Hg concentrations from before the Industrial Revolution, i.e., ca. 1750 AD, to the
present. Recent, post-industrial increases would suggest that industrial sources have had
a measurable impact on Hg concentrations, while the lack of increases or historical
declines would suggest the current levels are natural. This project would examine the
historical trends of Hg in several species of marine mammals and bivalves from different
regions of the Arctic, using the mammal teeth and bivalve shells as proxies of tissue Hg
concentrations and environmental Hg levels. Research objectives for 1989-99 are to analyse 200 tooth cement and shell samples for total Hg, and 50 Ellesmere Island shells for trace elements and Pb-isotopes with sufficient standard reference materials to ensure data quality. To prepare a report on the research findings.
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