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Mercury in Perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Sweden and Finland

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Abstract

High mercury concentrations in freshwater fish from the Nordic region have been of concern for a long time. Ongoing monitoring of key ecological species occurs in these countries to follow the situation. Here, we investigated spatial and temporal trends in mercury concentrations in European perch (Perca fluviatilis) within the Swedish and Finnish aquatic environments, collated from national monitoring programmes collected between 1974 and 2005 (n = 5,172). Data were length and weight adjusted to remove perch size as a confounding factor. Temporal trend analyses and t tests comparing pre- and post-1996 mercury concentrations for each country (1974–1995; 1996–2005; perch adjusted to 200 g/25 cm), showed a significant decrease in mercury concentration in perch from Sweden (p < 0.001) and a possible increase in mercury concentration in perch from Finland (p < 0.001). No statistically significant geographical trends were seen. Average mercury concentrations exceeded both the current environmental quality standard (EQS) of 20 ng/g wet weight (ww) and a discussed EQS for the Nordic region of 200–250 ng/g ww. Despite large reductions in mercury use and production in these countries, concentrations in perch continue to be higher here than in other European areas, posing a continued environmental risk.

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Acknowledgments

Many institutes and people contributed to the acquisition of data for this report and in valuable discussions of data treatment, including Susan Londesborough (Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, Tukes, Finland), Jaakko Mannio (Finnish Environmental Institute SYKE, Finland), Helene Lager and Mikaela Gönczi (Naturvårdsverket, Sweden) and Kjell Johansson and Staffan Åkerblom (SLU, Sweden). The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) is thanked for providing funding to make this research possible (contract number 216 1051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Contaminant Research, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, 10405, Stockholm, Sweden

    Aroha Miller, Anders Bignert & Sara Danielsson

  2. Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), P.O. Box 140, 00251, Helsinki, Finland

    Petri Porvari & Matti Verta

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  1. Aroha Miller
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  2. Anders Bignert
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  4. Sara Danielsson
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  5. Matti Verta
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Correspondence to Aroha Miller.

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Miller, A., Bignert, A., Porvari, P. et al. Mercury in Perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Sweden and Finland. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1472 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1472-x

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