Total and methylated mercury in Canadian Arctic waters (2016)

The bioaccumulation of mercury in marine food webs poses potential health risks to consumers. The shallow Arctic Ocean receives seawater inputs from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as substantial freshwater input from rivers, all of which can transport mercury to Arctic waters. The fate of mercury that enters Arctic waters, including its susceptibility for uptake into the Arctic food web, depends on its chemical speciation, which is subject to transformation due to water column and sedimentary processes. Transects of river systems were targeted in order to determine the relative importance of mercury sources and the potential for methyl mercury production in Arctic systems.