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Article Dans Une Revue Science of the Total Environment Année : 2022

Mercury contamination and potential health risks to Arctic seabirds and shorebirds

1 CEBC - Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372
2 LIENSs - LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés
3 Western Ecological Research Center
4 Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences [Canada]
5 Akvaplan niva AS (APN) [Norway]
6 NINA - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
7 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
8 Faroe Marine Research Institute
9 Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre
10 Aarhus University [Aarhus]
11 AARI - Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
12 ECCC - Environment and Climate Change Canada
13 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
14 Southwest Iceland Nature Research Centre
15 IBPN - Institute of Biological Problems of the North
16 METIS - Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols
17 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
18 Department of Life and Environmental Sciences [Iceland]
19 South Iceland Nature Research Centre [Iceland]
20 Institute for Searbird Research and Conservation
21 Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology
22 University of Iceland [Reykjavik]
23 Institute of Arctic Biology
24 Northeast Iceland Nature Research Centre [Húsavík]
25 Murmansk Marine Biological [Russia]
26 Biology, Acadia University,Wolfville, NS, Canada
27 Memorial Univerisity of Newfoundland and Labrador
28 Faroe Marine Reseaqrch Institute [Faroe Islands]
29 Wildlife and Conservation Sciences
30 Icelandic Institute of Natural History
31 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
32 NiPR - National Institute of Polar Research [Tokyo]
33 Institute of Arctic Biology
34 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Secretariat [Norway]
Jérôme Fort
Céline Albert
Glenn Yannic
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

Since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of mercury (Hg) on Arctic biota in 2011 and 2018, there has been a considerable number of new Arctic bird studies. This review article provides contemporary Hg exposure and potential health risk for 36 Arctic seabird and shorebird species, representing a larger portion of the Arctic than during previous AMAP assessments now also including parts of the Russian Arctic. To assess risk to birds, we used Hg toxicity benchmarks established for blood and converted to egg, liver, and feather tissues. Several Arctic seabird populations showed Hg concentrations that exceeded toxicity benchmarks, with 50 % of individual birds exceeding the "no adverse health effect" level. In particular, 5 % of all studied birds were considered to be at moderate or higher risk to Hg toxicity. However, most seabirds (95 %) were generally at lower risk to Hg toxicity. The highest Hg contamination was observed in seabirds breeding in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Most Arctic shorebirds exhibited low Hg concentrations, with approximately 45 % of individuals categorized at no risk, 2.5 % at high risk category, and no individual at severe risk. Although the majority Arctic-breeding seabirds and shorebirds appeared at lower risk to Hg toxicity, recent studies have reported deleterious effects of Hg on some pituitary hormones, genotoxicity, and reproductive performance. Adult survival appeared unaffected by Hg exposure, although long-term banding studies incorporating Hg are still limited. Although Hg contamination across the Arctic is considered low for most bird species, Hg in combination with other stressors, including other contaminants, diseases, parasites, and climate change, may still cause adverse effects. Future investigations on the global impact of Hg on Arctic birds should be conducted within a multi-stressor framework. This information helps to address Article 22 (Effectiveness Evaluation) of the Minamata Convention on Mercury as a global pollutant.
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hal-03708540 , version 1 (25-11-2022)

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Olivier Chastel, Jérôme Fort, Joshua Ackerman, Céline Albert, Frédéric Angelier, et al.. Mercury contamination and potential health risks to Arctic seabirds and shorebirds. Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 844, pp.156944. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156944⟩. ⟨hal-03708540⟩
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