Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mercury bioaccumulation in organisms from three Puerto Rican estuaries

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We analyzed mercury levels in shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.), Blue Crabs (Callinectes sp.), fish (Tarpon Megalops atlantica and Tilapia Tilapia mossambica), lizards (Ameiva exsul), Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) and Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) in three estuaries in Puerto Rico in 1988. There were no quantifiable concentrations greater than the method detection limit of mercury in shrimp, crabs and lizards from any site. Mercury levels were also below detection limits in Tilapia, except for specimens collected at Frontera Creek, allegedly contaminated with mercury. However, mercury levels ranged from 92–238 μg/kg (wet weight) in Tarpon, a predaceous fish that feeds on smaller fish. Few of the birds had detectable levels of mercury. Our results indicate relatively low concentrations of mercury in biota collected in all of the three estuaries at most trophic levels, although 10 of 12 Tarpon fillet samples from Frontera had detectable mercury compared to 3 of 12 fillet samples for the other two lagoons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bache, C.A., Gutenmann, W.H., and Link, D.J.: 1971, ‘Residues of Total Mercury and Methylmercuric Salts in Lake Trout as a Function of Age’, Science 172, 951–952.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow, H.B. and Schroeder, W.C.: 1953, ‘Fishes of the Gulf of Maine’, Fishery Bull. of Fish and Wildlife Service 53, 1–577.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boschung, H.T., Williams, J.D., Gotshall, D.W., Caldwell, D.K. and Caldwell, M.C.: 1983, Field Guide to North American Fishes Whales and Dolphins, Audubon Society, Knopf, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bopp, F. and Briggs, R.B.: 1981, ‘Metals in Estuarine Sediments: Factor Analysis and Its Environmental Significance’, Science 214; 441–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bull, K.R., Dearsley, A.F. and Inskip, M.H.: 1981, ‘Growth and Mercury Content of Roach (Rutilus rutilus, L.), Perch (Perca fluviatilis, L.) and Pike (Esox lucius, L.) Living in Sewage Effluent’, Environ. Poll. Ser. A25, 229–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braune, B.M.: 1987, ‘Comparison of Total Mercury Levels in Relation to Diet and Molt for Nine Species of Marine Birds’, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 16, 217–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brugmann, L.: 1981, ‘Heavy Metal in the Baltic Sea’, Marine Poll. Bull. 12, 214–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bycroft, B.M., Coller, B.A.W., Deacon, G.B., Coleman, C.J. and Lake, P.S.: 1982, ‘Mercury Contamination of the Lerderderg River, Victoria, Australia, from an Abandoned Gold Field’, Environ. Pollut. Ser. A28, 135–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson, T.W.: 1990, ‘Human Health Risks from Methylmercury in Fish’, Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 9, 957–961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cocoros, G., Cahn, P.H. and Siler, W.: 1973, ‘Mercury Concentrations in Fish, Plankton and Water from Three Western Atlantic Estuaries’, J. Fish. Biol 5, 641–647.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colon, J.A., Corujo, I. and Negron, L.: 1980, ‘Caracterizacion Ecologica de las Lagunas de Humacao’, Septimo Simposio del Departamento de Rucursos Naturales de Puerto Rico.

  • Cramp, S. (Ed.): 1977, Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Vol. Ostrich to Ducks. O.U.P., Oxford, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutshall, N.H., Naidu, J.R. and Pearcy, W.G.: 1978, ‘Mercury Concentrations in Pacific Hake, Merluccius productus (Ayres), as a Function of Length and Latitude’, Science, 200, 1499–2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Division of Coastal Resources, Fish and Wildlife Planning: 1981, ‘Proposal for a Fish and Wildlife Refuge in the Mandry Lagoons, Humacao, Puerto Rico’, Department of Natural Resources, Puerto Rico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenreich, S.J., Elzerman, A.W. and Armstrong, D.E.: 1978, ‘Enrichment of Micronutrients, Heavy Metals, and Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Wild-Generated Lake Foam’, Environ. Sci. Tech. 12, 413–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • EPA: 1981, ‘Interim Methods for the Sampling and Analysis of Priority Pollutants in Sediments and Fish Tissue’, US Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 600/4-81-055. Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdem, C. and Meadows, P.S.: 1980, ‘The Influence of Mercury on the Burrowing Behavior of Corophium volutator’, Marine Biol. 56, 233–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdman, D.S.: 1967, Inland Game Fishes of Puerto Rico, Department of Agriculture, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

  • Fimreite, N. and Reynolds, I.M.: 1973, ‘Mercury Contamination of Fish in Northwestern Ontario’, J. Wildlife Manage. 37, 62–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fimreite, N., Brun, E., Froslie, A., Frederichsen, P. and Gundersen, N.: 1974, ‘Mercury in Eggs of Norwegian Seabirds’, Astarte 1, 71–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, H.C., Horne, D.A., McTague, B. and McMenemy, M.: 1974, ‘Mercury in Some Canadian Atlantic Coast Fish and Shellfish’, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 31, 369–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furness, R.W., Lewis, S.A. and Mills, J.A.: 1990, ‘Mercury Levels in the Plumage of Red-Billed Gulls Larus novaehollandiae scopulilnus of Known Sex and Age’, Environ. Pollut. 63, 33–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gochfeld, M.: 1980a, ‘Tissue Distribution of Mercury in Normal and Abnormal Young Common Terns’, Marine Poll. Bull. 11, 362–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gochfeld, M.: 1980b, ‘Mercury Levels in Some Seabirds of the Humboldt Current’, Peru. Environ. Pollution (Series A), 22, 197–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gochfeld, M. and Burger, J.: 1987, ‘Factors Affecting Tissue Distribution of Heavy Metals. Age Effects and the Metal Concentration Patterns in Common Terns Sterna hirundo’, Biol. Trace Element Res. 12, 389–399.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldwater, L.J.: 1972, Mercury, a History of Quicksilver, York Press, Baltimore, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakanson, L., Nilsson, A. and Andersson, T.: 1988, ‘Mercury in Fish in Swedish Lakes’, Environ. Pollut. 32, 145–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, R.D. and Curnow, R.D.: 1979, ‘Mercury in Herons, Egrets, and Their Foods’, J. Wildlife Manage 43, 85–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, A.G., Apte, S.C., Comber, S.D.W. and Morris, R.J.: 1988, ‘Biogeochemical Control of the Summer Distribution and Speciation of Arsenic in the Tamar Estuary’, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 27, 427–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulse, M., Mahoney, J.S., Schroder, G.D., Hacker, C.S. and Pier, S.M.: 1980, ‘Environmentally Acquired Lead, Cadmium and Manganese in the Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis, and the Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla’, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 9, 65–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, A.L.: 1988, ‘Modelling the Effect of Acidity on Mercury Uptake by Walleye in Acidic and Circumneutral Lakes’, Environ. Pollut. 32, 285–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, A.L. and Foehrenback, J.: 1971, ‘Testing for Mercury in New York's Marine Fish and Shellfish’, The Conservationist, Oct–Nov, 31–33.

  • Kelly, T.M., Jones, J.D. and Smith, G.R.: 1975, ‘Historical Changes in Mercury Contamination in Michigan Walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum)’, J. Fish. Res. Board Canada 32, 1744–1754.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, K.A. and Cromartie, E., 1986, ‘Mercury, Cadmium, Lead and Selenium in Three Waterbird Species Nesting in Galveston Bay, Texas, U.S.A., Colonial Waterbirds 9, 90–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitan, S., Rosner, L. and Yannai, S.: 1974, ‘Mercury Levels in Some Carnivorous and Herbivorous Israeli Fishes, and in Their Habitats’, Israel J. Zool. 23, 135–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linko, R.R. and Terho, K.: 1977, ‘Occurrence of Methyl Mercury in Pike and Baltic Herring from the Turku Archipelago’, Environ. Pollut. 14, 227–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, R.J.: 1987, ‘Fish Sampling in Estuaries: The Relationship of Scale to Variability’, Estuaries 10, 194–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, L.N., Stotts, V. and Wolfhard, G.: 1970, ‘An Outbreak of Fowl Cholera in Waterfowl on the Chesapeake Bay’, J. Wildlife Dis. 6, 404–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maedgen, J.L., Hacker, C.S., Schroder, G.D. and Weir, 1982, ‘Bioaccumulation of Lead and Cadmium in the Royal Tern and Sandwich Tern’, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 11, 99–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, K., Stoeppler, M. and Reisinger, K.: 1987, ‘Studies in the Ratio of Total Mercury/Methylmercury in the Aquatic Food Chain’, Toxicol. Environ. Chem. 13, 153–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsunaga, K.: 1975, ‘Concentration of Mercury by Three Species of Fish from Japanese Rivers’, Nature 257, 49–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, N. (Ed.): 1971, ‘Hazards of Mercury’, Environmental Research 4, 1–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuorteva, P. and Itasahnn, E.: 1975, ‘Bioaccumulation of Mercury in Myxocephalus Quadricornis (L.), (Teleostei, Cottidae) in an Unpolluted Area of the Baltic’, Ann. Zool. Fennica. 12, 247–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohlendorf, H.M., Custer, T.W., Lowes, R.W., Rigney, M. and Cromartie, E.: 1988, ‘Organochlorines and Mercury in Eggs of Coastal Terns and Herons in California, U.S.A.’, Colonial Waterbirds 11, 85–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, D., Harris, M.P. and Nicholson, J.K.: 1979, ‘Comparative Tissue Distribution of Mercury, Cadmium and Zinc in Three Species of Pelagic Seabirds’, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 64C, 61–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parslow, J.L.F., Thomas, G.J. and Williams, T.D.: 1982, ‘Heavy Metals in the Livers of Waterfowl from the Ouse Washes, England’, Environ. Pollution (Ser. A) 29, 317–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, G.R., Lenhart, T.E. and Gregory, R.W.: 1980, ‘Relation Between Trophic Position and Mercury Accumulation Among Fishes from the Tongue River Reservoir’, Environ. Research 22, 73–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pico, R.: 1974, The Geography of Puerto Rico, Aldine Publ. Co., Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, L., Kidd, D. and Standiford, D.: 1975, ‘Mercury Levels in Lake Powell: Bioamplification of Mercury in a Man-Made Desert Reservoir’, Environ. Science Technol. 9, 41–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture: 1973, ‘The Determination of Mercury in Commercially Imported Aquatic Organisms’, Department of Agriculture, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raffaele, H.A.: 1989, A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimold, R.J.: 1975, ‘Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Pesticides and Mercury in Coastal Biota, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands 1972–1974’, Pesticides Monit. J. 9, 39–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivero, J.A.: 1978, Los anfibios y reptiles de Puerto Rico, Univ. de Puerto Rico, San Juan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, T., Waugh, G.D., Mol, J.C.M.: 1975, ‘Mercury Levels in New Zealand Snappers Chrysophrys auratus’, N.Z.J. Marine Freshwater Research 9, 265–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roderer, G.: 1983, ‘Differential Toxic Effects of Mercuric Chloride and Methylmercuric Chloride on the Freshwater Alga Poteriochromonas malhamensis’, Aquatic Toxicol. 3, 23–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D.P. and Armstrong, F.A.J.: 1972, ‘Mercury Concentration in Relation to Size in Several Species of Freshwater Fishes from Manitoba and Northereastern Ontario’, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 29, 1685–1690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D.P.: 1974, ‘Mercury Concentration of White Muscle in Relation to Age, Growth, and Condition in Four Species of Fishes from Clay Lake Ontario’, J. Fish. Res. Bd., Canada 31, 1723–1729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunda, W.G., Engel, D.W. and Thuotte, R.M.: 1978, ‘Effect of Chemical Speciation on Toxicity of Cadmium to Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes pugio: Importance of Free Cadmium Ion’, Environ. Sci. Tech. 12, 409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thain, J.E.: 1984, ‘Effects of Mercury on the Prosobranch Mollusc Crepidula fornicata: Acute Lethal Toxicity and Effects on Growth and Reproduction of Chronic Exposure’, Marine Environ. Res. 12, 285–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underdal, B. and Hastein, T.: 1971, ‘Mercury in Fish and Water from a River and a Fjord in the Kragero Region, South Norway’, Oikos 22, 101–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westoo, G.: 1973, ‘Methylmercury as Percentage of Total Mercury in Flesh and Viscera of Salmon and Sea Trout of Various Ages’, Science 181, 567–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitworth, W.R., Berrien, P.L. and Keller, W.T.: 1968, ‘Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut’, Conn. State Bull. 101. Hartford, Conn.

  • Windom, H.L. and Kendall, D.R.: 1979, ‘Accumulation and Biotransformation of Mercury in Coastal and Marine Biota’, in Nriagu, J.O. (Ed.), The Biogeochemistry of Mercury in the Environment, Elsevier, New York, pp. 303–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wobeser, G., Nielsen, N.O. and Dunlop, R.H.: 1970. ‘Mercury Concentrations in Tissues of Fish from the Saskatchewan River’, J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 27, 830–834.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, 08855, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Joanna Burger & Jorge Saliva

  2. Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute, 08855, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Joanna Burger, Keith Cooper & Michael Gochfeld

  3. Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, 08854, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Keith Cooper

  4. Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    D. Gochfeld

  5. Dynamac Inc., 07024, FT Lee, New Jersey, USA

    D. Lipsky

  6. Environmental and Community Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Michael Gochfeld

Authors
  1. Joanna Burger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Keith Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jorge Saliva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Gochfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. D. Lipsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Michael Gochfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This project was partially funded by an EPA consent decree (Dynamac, Inc.) and NIEHS grant (ESO 5022) to EOSHI.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Burger, J., Cooper, K., Saliva, J. et al. Mercury bioaccumulation in organisms from three Puerto Rican estuaries. Environ Monit Assess 22, 181–197 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00419568

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00419568

Keywords

Search

Navigation