2024/11/14 by Qinqin Chen, Wu Qingru, Yuying Cui +1 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Environmental Science · #Mercury impact and mitigation studies #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
paper · doi:10.1093/nsr/nwae417
ABSTRACT Global ecosystems face mercury contamination, yet long-term data are scarce, hindering understanding of ecosystem responses to atmospheric Hg input changes. To bridge the data gap and assess ecosystem responses, we compiled and compared a mercury accumulation database from peat, lake, ice and marine deposits worldwide with atmospheric mercury deposition modelled by GEOS-Chem, focusing on trends, magnitudes, spatial–temporal distributions and impact factors. The mercury fluxes in all four deposits showed a 5- to 9-fold increase over 1700–2012, with lake and peat mercury fluxes that generally mirrored atmospheric deposition trends. Significant decreases in lake and peat mercury fluxes post-1950 in Europe evidenced effective environmental policies, whereas rises in East Asia, Africa and Oceania highlighted coal-use impacts, inter alia. Conversely, mercury fluxes in marine and high-altitude ecosystems did not align well with atmospheric deposition, emphasizing natural influences over anthropogenic impacts. Our study underscores the importance of these key regions and ecosystems for future mercury management.