Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences
Polar regions, symbols of wilderness, have been identified as potential sinks of mercury coming from natural and anthropogenic sources at lower latitudes. Changes in ice coverage currently occurring in some areas such as the Antarctic Peninsula could enhance these phenomena and their impacts on loca...
Published in: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c08482f757794d9e859272a13137bea9 2023-05-15T13:51:07+02:00 Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences Miguel Motas Silvia Jerez Marta Esteban Francisco Valera José Javier Cuervo Andrés Barbosa 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189918 https://doaj.org/article/c08482f757794d9e859272a13137bea9 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9918 https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827 https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601 doi:10.3390/ijerph18189918 1660-4601 1661-7827 https://doaj.org/article/c08482f757794d9e859272a13137bea9 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 9918, p 9918 (2021) mercury penguins feathers Antarctic Peninsula biomonitoring Medicine R article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189918 2022-12-31T07:41:22Z Polar regions, symbols of wilderness, have been identified as potential sinks of mercury coming from natural and anthropogenic sources at lower latitudes. Changes in ice coverage currently occurring in some areas such as the Antarctic Peninsula could enhance these phenomena and their impacts on local biota. As long-lived species at the top of food chains, seabirds are particularly sensitive to this highly toxic metal with the capacity to be biomagnified. Specifically, their feathers can be useful for Hg monitoring since they mainly accumulate its most toxic and persistent form, methyl-Hg. To that end, feathers of gentoo ( Pygoscelis papua ), chinstrap ( P. antarcticus ), and Adélie penguins ( P. adeliae ) ( n = 108) were collected by passive sampling in seven different locations throughout the Antarctic Peninsula area and analyzed by ICP-MS after microwave-digestion. More than 93% of the samples showed detectable Hg levels (range: 6.3–12,529.8 ng g −1 dry weight), and the highest ones were found in the feathers of chinstrap penguins from King George Island. Hg bioconcentration and biomagnification seem to be occurring in the Antarctic food web, giving rise to high but non-toxic Hg levels in penguins, similar to those previously found in Arctic seabirds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula antarcticus Arctic King George Island Pygoscelis papua Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 18 9918 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
mercury penguins feathers Antarctic Peninsula biomonitoring Medicine R |
spellingShingle |
mercury penguins feathers Antarctic Peninsula biomonitoring Medicine R Miguel Motas Silvia Jerez Marta Esteban Francisco Valera José Javier Cuervo Andrés Barbosa Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
topic_facet |
mercury penguins feathers Antarctic Peninsula biomonitoring Medicine R |
description |
Polar regions, symbols of wilderness, have been identified as potential sinks of mercury coming from natural and anthropogenic sources at lower latitudes. Changes in ice coverage currently occurring in some areas such as the Antarctic Peninsula could enhance these phenomena and their impacts on local biota. As long-lived species at the top of food chains, seabirds are particularly sensitive to this highly toxic metal with the capacity to be biomagnified. Specifically, their feathers can be useful for Hg monitoring since they mainly accumulate its most toxic and persistent form, methyl-Hg. To that end, feathers of gentoo ( Pygoscelis papua ), chinstrap ( P. antarcticus ), and Adélie penguins ( P. adeliae ) ( n = 108) were collected by passive sampling in seven different locations throughout the Antarctic Peninsula area and analyzed by ICP-MS after microwave-digestion. More than 93% of the samples showed detectable Hg levels (range: 6.3–12,529.8 ng g −1 dry weight), and the highest ones were found in the feathers of chinstrap penguins from King George Island. Hg bioconcentration and biomagnification seem to be occurring in the Antarctic food web, giving rise to high but non-toxic Hg levels in penguins, similar to those previously found in Arctic seabirds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Miguel Motas Silvia Jerez Marta Esteban Francisco Valera José Javier Cuervo Andrés Barbosa |
author_facet |
Miguel Motas Silvia Jerez Marta Esteban Francisco Valera José Javier Cuervo Andrés Barbosa |
author_sort |
Miguel Motas |
title |
Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
title_short |
Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
title_full |
Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
title_fullStr |
Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury Levels in Feathers of Penguins from the Antarctic Peninsula Area: Geographical and Inter-Specific Differences |
title_sort |
mercury levels in feathers of penguins from the antarctic peninsula area: geographical and inter-specific differences |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189918 https://doaj.org/article/c08482f757794d9e859272a13137bea9 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula antarcticus Arctic King George Island Pygoscelis papua |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula antarcticus Arctic King George Island Pygoscelis papua |
op_source |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 9918, p 9918 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9918 https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827 https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601 doi:10.3390/ijerph18189918 1660-4601 1661-7827 https://doaj.org/article/c08482f757794d9e859272a13137bea9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189918 |
container_title |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
9918 |
_version_ |
1766254732821659648 |