Correlation of Mercury Occurrence with Age, Elemental Composition, and Life History in Sea-Run Food Fish from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago’s Lower Northwest Passage

As mercury emissions continue and climate-mediated permafrost thaw increases the burden of this contaminant in northern waters, Inuit from a Northwest passage community in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago pressed for an assessment of their subsistence catches. Sea-run salmonids ( n = 537) comprising...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Foods
Main Authors: Iris Koch, Pranab Das, Bronte E. McPhedran, John M. Casselman, Kristy L. Moniz, Peter van Coeverden de Groot, James Qitsualik, Derek Muir, Stephan Schott, Virginia K. Walker
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
anadromous salmonids
Arctic char
lake whitefish
cisco
lake trout
isotopes
Chemical technology
TP1-1185
Arctic
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Northwest Passage
Namaycush Lake
Arctic Archipelago
inuit
Northwest passage
permafrost
Salvelinus alpinus
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112621
https://doaj.org/article/4983df0bd5f3423eb16f26812e0374fa
Description
Summary:As mercury emissions continue and climate-mediated permafrost thaw increases the burden of this contaminant in northern waters, Inuit from a Northwest passage community in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago pressed for an assessment of their subsistence catches. Sea-run salmonids ( n = 537) comprising Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus ), lake trout ( S. namaycush ), lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis ), and cisco ( C. autumnalis, C. sardinella ) were analyzed for muscle mercury. Methylmercury is a neurotoxin and bioaccumulated with fish age, but other factors including selenium and other elements, diet and trophic level as assessed by stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ 15 N) and carbon (δ 13 C), as well as growth rate, condition, and geographic origin, also contributed depending on the species, even though all the fish shared a similar anadromous or sea-run life history. Although mean mercury concentrations for most of the species were ~0.09 µg·g −1 wet weight (ww), below the levels described in several jurisdictions for subsistence fisheries (0.2 µg·g −1 ww), 70% of lake trout were above this guideline (0.35 µg·g −1 ww), and 19% exceeded the 2.5-fold higher levels for commercial sale. We thus urge the development of consumption advisories for lake trout for the protection of pregnant women and young children and that additionally, periodic community-based monitoring be initiated.

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