Pushing back the frontiers of mercury speciation using a combination of biomolecular and isotopic signatures: challenge and perspectives

Internal Dynamics and Metabolism of Mercury in Biota: A Review of Insights from Mercury Stable Isotopes

Monitoring mercury (Hg) levels in biota is considered an important objective for the effectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention. While many studies have characterized Hg levels in organisms at multiple spatiotemporal scales, concentration analyses alone often cannot provide sufficient information on the Hg exposure sources and internal processes occurring within biota. Here, we review the decadal scientific progress of using Hg isotopes to understand internal processes that modify the speciation, transport, and fate of Hg within biota. Mercury stable isotopes have emerged as a powerful tool for assessing Hg sources and biogeochemical processes in natural environments. A better understanding of the tissue location and internal mechanisms leading to Hg isotope change is key to assessing its use for biomonitoring. We synthesize the current understanding and uncertainties of internal processes leading to Hg isotope fractionation in a variety of biota, in a sequence of better to less studied organisms (i.e., birds, marine mammals, humans, fish, plankton, and invertebrates). This review discusses the opportunities and challenges of using certain forms of biota for Hg source monitoring and the need to further elucidate the physiological mechanisms that control the accumulation, distribution, and toxicity of Hg in biota by coupling new techniques with Hg stable isotopes.

New insights into the biomineralization of mercury selenide nanoparticles through stable isotope analysis in giant petrel tissues

Tiemannite (HgSe) is considered the end-product of methylmercury (MeHg) demethylation in vertebrates. The biomineralization of HgSe nanoparticles (NPs) is understood to be an efficient MeHg detoxification mechanism; however, the process has not yet been fully elucidated. In order to contribute to the understanding of complex Hg metabolism and HgSe NPs formation, the Hg isotopic signatures of 40 samples of 11 giant petrels were measured. This seabird species is one of the largest avian scavengers in the Southern Ocean, highly exposed to MeHg through their diet, reaching Hg concentrations in the liver up to more than 900 µg g^-1. This work constitutes the first species-specific isotopic measurement (δ²⁰²Hg, Δ¹⁹⁹Hg) of HgSe NPs in seabirds and the largest characterization of this compound in biota. Similar δ²⁰²Hg values specifically associated to HgSe (δ²⁰²Hg_HgSe) and tissues (δ²⁰²Hg_bulk) dominated by inorganic Hg species were found, suggesting that no isotopic fractionation is induced during the biomineralization step from the precursor (demethylated) species. In contrast, the largest variations between δ²⁰²Hg_bulk and δ²⁰²Hg_HgSe were observed in muscle and brain tissues. This could be attributed to the higher fraction of Hg present as MeHg in these tissues. Hg-biomolecules screening highlights the importance of the isotopic characterization of these (unknown) complexes.

"Non-traditional" stable isotopes applied to the study of trace metal contaminants in anthropized marine environments

The advent of Multicollector ICP-MS inaugurated the analysis of new metal isotope systems, the so-called "non-traditional" isotopes. They are now available tools to study geochemical and ecotoxicological aspects of marine metal contamination and hence, to push the frontiers of our knowledge. However, such applications are still in their infancy, and an accessible state-of-the-art describing main applications, obstacles, gaps, and directions for further development was missing from the literature. This paper fills this gap and aims to encourage the marine scientific community to explore the contributions of this newly available information for the fields of chemical risk assessment, biomonitoring, and trophic transfer of metal contaminants. In the current "Anthropocene" epoch, metal contamination will continue to threaten marine aquatic ecosystems, and "non-traditional" isotopes can be a valuable tool to detect human-induced changes across time-space involving metal contaminants, and their interaction with marine biota.

Directed Self-Assembly of C4-Symmetric, Oxidovanadate-Centered, Vanadyl(V) Quadruplexes for Ba2+- and Hg2+-Specific Recognition, Transport, and Recovery

Directed assembly of loosely, Na⁺-bound, oxidovanadate-centered quartets of C₄-symmetry from tailor-made chiral N-salicylidene-vanadyl(V) complexes, for the first time, allows for highly efficient Ba²⁺- or Hg²⁺-specific detection (by ⁵¹V NMR and VCD), transport (forming a unique helical capsule or a capped square planar complex, respectively), and green recovery from an aqueous phase containing 4 different alkaline earth ions or from at least 10 different metal ions of similar size and charge capacity into the CHCl₃ layer without interference from oxa- or oxophilic ions like Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺.

Assessment of Hg Pollution Released from a WWII Submarine Wreck (U-864) by Hg Isotopic Analysis of Sediments and Cancer pagurus Tissues

Hg pollution released from the U-864 submarine sunk during WWII and potential introduction of that Hg into the marine food chain have been studied by a combination of quantitative Hg and MeHg determination and Hg isotopic analysis via cold vapor generation multicollector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (CVG-MC-ICP-MS) in sediment and Cancer pagurus samples. The sediment pollution could be unequivocally linked with the metallic Hg present in the wreck. Crabs were collected at the wreck location and 4 nmi north and south, and their brown and claw meat were analyzed separately. For brown meat, the δ²⁰²Hg values of the individuals from the wreck location were shifted toward the isotopic signature of the sediment and, thus, the submarine Hg. Such differences were not found for claw meat. The isotope ratio results suggest direct ingestion of metallic Hg by C. pagurus but do not offer any proof for any other introduction of the submarine Hg into the marine food chain.