Mercury concentrations in biota in the Mediterranean Sea, a compilation of 40 years of surveys.
Sci Data 2019;
6:205. [PMID:
31619675 PMCID:
PMC6795892 DOI:
10.1038/s41597-019-0219-y]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mediterranean Region has a long lasting legacy of mercury mining activities and a high density of sub-marine volcanoes that has strongly contributed to its mercury budget. In the last forty years, there have been recorded increases in mercury concentrations in biota that have spurred a growing number of research activities to assess the impact of mercury pollution on human health and environment. Field investigations that quantify mercury concentrations in marine biota have led to a large amount of experimental data scattered in many peer-reviewed publications making it difficult for modelling applications and regional environmental assessments. This paper reviews existing peer-reviewed literature and datasets on mercury concentration in marine flora and fauna (Animal, Plants and Chromista Kingdoms) in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 24,465 records have been retrieved from 539 sources and included in Mercury in Mediterranean Biota (M2B). Well-defined specimens account for 24,407 observations, while a few records include generic plankton and unidentified fish species. Among all considered species, we selected Diplodus sargus, Sardina pilchardus, Thunnus thynnus and Xiphias gladius to show trends of mercury concentration against WHO and EU limits. Few notes on how M2B is intended to support the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury by a user-driven Knowledge Hub are finally reported.
Measurement(s) | mercury |
Technology Type(s) | digital curation |
Factor Type(s) | geographic location • fishing area • species • sampling time • depth • weight • tissue |
Sample Characteristic - Organism | Eukaryota |
Sample Characteristic - Environment | ocean biome |
Sample Characteristic - Location | Mediterranean Sea • Black Sea |
Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9886004
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