Médieu A., Point David, Sonke J. E., Angot H., Allain V., Bodin Nathalie, Adams D. H., Bignert A., Streets D. G., Buchanan P. B., Heimbürger-Boavida L. E., Pethybridge H., Gillikin D. P., Ménard Frédéric, Choy C. A., Itai T., Bustamante P., Dhurmeea Z., Ferriss B. E., Bourlès Bernard, Habasque Jérémie, Verheyden A., Munaron Jean-Marie, Laffont L., Gauthier O., Lorrain Anne. (2024). Stable tuna mercury concentrations since 1971 illustrate marine inertia and the need for strong emission reductions under the Minamata Convention. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 11, p. 250-258. ISSN 2328-8930.
Titre du document
Stable tuna mercury concentrations since 1971 illustrate marine inertia and the need for strong emission reductions under the Minamata Convention
Année de publication
2024
Auteurs
Médieu A., Point David, Sonke J. E., Angot H., Allain V., Bodin Nathalie, Adams D. H., Bignert A., Streets D. G., Buchanan P. B., Heimbürger-Boavida L. E., Pethybridge H., Gillikin D. P., Ménard Frédéric, Choy C. A., Itai T., Bustamante P., Dhurmeea Z., Ferriss B. E., Bourlès Bernard, Habasque Jérémie, Verheyden A., Munaron Jean-Marie, Laffont L., Gauthier O., Lorrain Anne
Source
Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 2024,
11, p. 250-258 ISSN 2328-8930
Humans are exposed to toxic methylmercury mainly by consuming marine fish. While reducing mercury emissions and releases aims to protect human health, it is unclear how this affects methylmercury concentrations in seawater and marine biota. We compiled existing and newly acquired mercury concentrations in tropical tunas from the global ocean to explore multidecadal mercury variability between 1971 and 2022. We show the strong inter-annual variability of tuna mercury concentrations at the global scale, after correcting for bioaccumulation effects. We found increasing mercury concentrations in skipjack in the late 1990s in the northwestern Pacific, likely resulting from concomitant increasing Asian mercury emissions. Elsewhere, stable long-term trends of tuna mercury concentrations contrast with an overall decline in global anthropogenic mercury emissions and deposition since the 1970s. Modeling suggests that this limited response observed in tunas likely reflects the inertia of surface ocean mercury with respect to declining emissions, as it is supplied by legacy mercury that accumulated in the subsurface ocean over centuries. To achieve measurable declines in mercury concentrations in highly consumed pelagic fish in the near future, aggressive emission reductions and long-term and continuous mercury monitoring in marine biota are needed.
Plan de classement
Sciences du milieu [021]
;
Limnologie biologique / Océanographie biologique [034]
;
Pollution [038]
;
Nutrition, alimentation [054]
Description Géographique
PACIFIQUE ; ATLANTIQUE ; OCEAN INDIEN ; MONDE
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010089632]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010089632
