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Ecological risk of methylmercury to piscivorous fish of the Great Lakes region

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Abstract

Contamination of fish populations with methylmercury is common in the region of the Laurentian Great Lakes as a result of atmospheric deposition and methylation of inorganic mercury. Using fish mercury monitoring data from natural resource agencies and information on tissue concentrations injurious to fish, we conducted a screening-level risk assessment of mercury to sexually mature female walleye (Sander vitreus), northern pike (Esox lucius), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Great Lakes and in interior lakes, impoundments, and rivers of the Great Lakes region. The assessment included more than 43,000 measurements of mercury in fish from more than 2000 locations. Sexually mature female fish that exceeded threshold-effect tissue concentrations of 0.20 μg g−1 wet weight in the whole body occurred at 8% (largemouth bass) to 43% (walleye) of sites. Fish at 3% to 18% of sites were at risk of injury and exceeded 0.30 μg g−1 where an alteration in reproduction or survival is predicted to occur. Most fish at increased risk were from interior lakes and impoundments. In the Great Lakes, no sites had sexually mature fish that exceeded threshold-effect concentrations. Results of this screening-level assessment indicate that fish at a substantive number of locations within the Great Lakes region are potentially at risk from methylmercury contamination and would benefit from reduction in mercury concentrations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ryan Perroy for assistance with figures and for the constructive comments of three anonymous reviewers. Funding was provided by the Great Lakes Air Deposition (GLAD) Program coordinated by the Great Lakes Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and the River Studies Center, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI, 54601, USA

    Mark B. Sandheinrich

  2. Ontario Ministry of Energy and Environment, Sport Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program, Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch, 125 Resources Road, Toronto, ON, M9P 3V6, Canada

    Satyendra P. Bhavsar

  3. Penobscot River Mercury Study, 115 Oystercatcher Place, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2W5, Canada

    R. A. Bodaly

  4. INRS-ETE, Université du Québec, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Paul E. Drevnick

  5. New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Aquatic Toxicity Research Unit, 8314 Fish Hatchery Road, Rome, NY, 13440, USA

    Eric A. Paul

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  1. Mark B. Sandheinrich
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  2. Satyendra P. Bhavsar
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  3. R. A. Bodaly
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  4. Paul E. Drevnick
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Correspondence to Mark B. Sandheinrich.

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Sandheinrich, M.B., Bhavsar, S.P., Bodaly, R.A. et al. Ecological risk of methylmercury to piscivorous fish of the Great Lakes region. Ecotoxicology 20, 1577–1587 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-011-0712-3

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