Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems
Millennial-scale datasets of heavy metals in biota are difficult to obtain but are important for determining patterns and underlying drivers of toxicant concentrations. This is particularly important to better discriminate contemporary natural and anthropogenic sources. Globally mercury is a contami...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 2024-06-23T07:50:50+00:00 Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems Avery, Julie P. Castellini, J. Margaret Misarti, Nicole Keenan, Mary Gastaldi, Angela Funk, Caroline O’Hara, Todd M. Rea, Lorrie D. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution volume 11 ISSN 2296-701X journal-article 2023 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 2024-06-04T05:55:40Z Millennial-scale datasets of heavy metals in biota are difficult to obtain but are important for determining patterns and underlying drivers of toxicant concentrations. This is particularly important to better discriminate contemporary natural and anthropogenic sources. Globally mercury is a contaminant of concern. Post-industrial increases in mercury in arctic biota have been documented and monitoring of Steller sea lions ( Eumetopias jubatus ) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, has revealed a high proportion of pups with fur mercury concentrations above thresholds of concern in some regions. As bone is a tissue that is well preserved in archeological middens, it may prove useful for developing long-term mercury data sets under appropriate conditions. The goal of this study was to evaluate methodologies for measuring mercury concentration in Steller sea lion bone using a direct mercury analyzer, considering sample preparation methods and variability among bone tissue types (e.g., compact versus spongy bone). Finally, we directly compare sensitivity and precision of two different direct mercury analyzer models. Based on the methods presented here, direct mercury analysis using the Nippon MA-3000 can quantify small (ppb) quantities of Hg accurately and precisely in 20 to 60mg of bone with minimal specimen processing. The described method is efficient, relatively inexpensive, and requires minimal bone, conserving rare and valuable specimens. Hydrogen peroxide cleaning and collagen extraction were not required, and may be detrimental for optimal Hg quantification in bone. Further, while homogenization of distinct compact and spongy bone did not impact concentration determination, variance of technical replicates was lower improving quantitation precision. Most importantly, significant differences between compact and spongy bone exist within some individual specimen; however, the difference is not consistent and may indicate differential Hg exposure windows influenced by turnover rate of bone types. We conclude bone ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Alaska Aleutian Islands Frontiers (Publisher) Arctic Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11 |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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Millennial-scale datasets of heavy metals in biota are difficult to obtain but are important for determining patterns and underlying drivers of toxicant concentrations. This is particularly important to better discriminate contemporary natural and anthropogenic sources. Globally mercury is a contaminant of concern. Post-industrial increases in mercury in arctic biota have been documented and monitoring of Steller sea lions ( Eumetopias jubatus ) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, has revealed a high proportion of pups with fur mercury concentrations above thresholds of concern in some regions. As bone is a tissue that is well preserved in archeological middens, it may prove useful for developing long-term mercury data sets under appropriate conditions. The goal of this study was to evaluate methodologies for measuring mercury concentration in Steller sea lion bone using a direct mercury analyzer, considering sample preparation methods and variability among bone tissue types (e.g., compact versus spongy bone). Finally, we directly compare sensitivity and precision of two different direct mercury analyzer models. Based on the methods presented here, direct mercury analysis using the Nippon MA-3000 can quantify small (ppb) quantities of Hg accurately and precisely in 20 to 60mg of bone with minimal specimen processing. The described method is efficient, relatively inexpensive, and requires minimal bone, conserving rare and valuable specimens. Hydrogen peroxide cleaning and collagen extraction were not required, and may be detrimental for optimal Hg quantification in bone. Further, while homogenization of distinct compact and spongy bone did not impact concentration determination, variance of technical replicates was lower improving quantitation precision. Most importantly, significant differences between compact and spongy bone exist within some individual specimen; however, the difference is not consistent and may indicate differential Hg exposure windows influenced by turnover rate of bone types. We conclude bone ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Avery, Julie P. Castellini, J. Margaret Misarti, Nicole Keenan, Mary Gastaldi, Angela Funk, Caroline O’Hara, Todd M. Rea, Lorrie D. |
spellingShingle |
Avery, Julie P. Castellini, J. Margaret Misarti, Nicole Keenan, Mary Gastaldi, Angela Funk, Caroline O’Hara, Todd M. Rea, Lorrie D. Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
author_facet |
Avery, Julie P. Castellini, J. Margaret Misarti, Nicole Keenan, Mary Gastaldi, Angela Funk, Caroline O’Hara, Todd M. Rea, Lorrie D. |
author_sort |
Avery, Julie P. |
title |
Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
title_short |
Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
title_full |
Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
title_sort |
evaluating methods for determining mercury concentrations in ancient marine fish and mammal bones as an approach to assessing millennial-scale fluctuations in marine ecosystems |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282/full |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Alaska Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Arctic Alaska Aleutian Islands |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution volume 11 ISSN 2296-701X |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1251282 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
_version_ |
1802641777205706752 |