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Leaching of mercury from seal carcasses into Antarctic soils

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Abstract

More than 400 seal mummies and skeletons are now mapped in the northern part of James Ross Island, Antarctica. Decomposing carcasses represent a rare source of both organic matter and associated elements for the soil. Owing to their high trophic position, seals are known to carry a significant mercury body burden. This work focuses on the extent of the mercury input from seal carcasses and shows that such carcasses represent locally significant sources of mercury and methylmercury for the environment. Mercury contents in soil samples from the surrounding areas were determined using a single-purpose AAS mercury analyzer. For the determination of methylmercury, an ultra-sensitive isotopic dilution HPLC-ICP-MS technique was used. In the soils lying directly under seal carcasses, mercury contents were higher, with levels reaching almost 40 μg/kg dry weight of which methylmercury formed up to 2.8 % of the total. The spatial distribution implies rather slow vertical transport to the lower soil layers instead of a horizontal spread. For comparison, the background level of mercury in soils of the investigated area was found to be 8 μg/kg dry weight, with methylmercury accounting for less than 0.1 %. Apart from the direct mercury input, an enhanced level of nutrients in the vicinity of carcasses enables the growth of lichens and mosses with accumulative ability with respect to metals. The enhanced capacity of soil to retain mercury is also anticipated due to the high content of total organic carbon (from 1.6 to 7.5 %). According to the results, seal remains represent a clear source of mercury in the observed area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Czech Polar project for use of its facilities (Johann Gregor Mendel Station) and for financial support from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, project P503/12/0682. The involvement of Pavel Coufalík was supported by the Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the CAS under the Institutional Research Plan RVO: 68081715. This work was also supported by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (LO1214 and LM2015051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ondřej Zvěřina

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ondřej Zvěřina, Pavel Coufalík & Josef Komárek

  3. Institute of Analytical Chemistry, The Czech Academy of Sciences, v.v.i., Veveří 97, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Pavel Coufalík

  4. Department of Respiratory Diseases and TB, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Kristián Brat

  5. Department of Respiratory Diseases and TB, University Hospital Brno, Jihlavská 20, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Kristián Brat

  6. Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Rostislav Červenka, Jan Kuta & Ondřej Mikeš

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  1. Ondřej Zvěřina
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Correspondence to Ondřej Zvěřina.

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Zvěřina, O., Coufalík, P., Brat, K. et al. Leaching of mercury from seal carcasses into Antarctic soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 1424–1431 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7879-3

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