Decrease in Mercury Content of Fishes in Ball Lake, Ontario, Since Imposition of Controls on Mercury Discharges

1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 670-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. J. Armstrong ◽  
D. P. Scott

Weight, fork length, and white muscle mercury concentrations of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), northern pike (Esox lucius), and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from Ball Lake, northwestern Ontario, were compared for 1971, 1972, and 1976. The lake had received mercury from 1962 to 1970; since then there have been increasingly rigorous controls. Adjusted mean white muscle mercury concentrations for walleye at the group mean length of 444 mm were 1.99, 2.71, and 1.39 mg/kg, respectively, for the three sample years. Corresponding values for pike 594 mm long were 5.05, 5.72, and 1.80 mg/kg. Whitefish values for 1972 and 1976 were 0.62 and 0.42 at 441 mm fork length. The changes are discussed in relation to the decreased input of mercury to the lake and it is suggested that mercury in suspension may be a controlling factor. Key words: mercury contamination, walleye, pike, whitefish, Ball Lake

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1723-1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Scott

Studies of large (about 125) samples of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), northern pike (Esox lucius), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from each of four areas of Clay Lake, Ontario, a highly mercury-contaminated lake, have confirmed previous findings that the larger the fish, the greater the white muscle mercury concentration, within species, within populations. This relationship was statistically broken into separate age:concentration and growth:concentration partial regressions; older fish and faster growing fish were generally more contaminated, subject to the above species–area restrictions. However, the generally positive correlation between concentration and condition (as measured by relative heaviness of individuals within area–species samples) found in the previous study is here contradicted; relatively heavier fish tended to have lower Hg concentrations. Despite the relatively small size of the lake (about 11 × 2 km) analyses of multiple covariance indicated profound within-species differences between the samples from the four areas. However, there did not appear to be any obvious correlation between these differences and sediment mercury values.The various statistical relationships do not appear to be simple, first-order regressions; rather, there appear to be significant interactions between age and growth, and age and condition, which tend to change the partial slopes with age. The four species were distinctly different in most of their relationships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 462-470
Author(s):  
Marta Bożym ◽  
Beata Klojzy-Karczmarczyk

Abstract Environmental pollution by mercury is a local problem in Poland and concerns mainly industrial sites. Foundry waste are usually characterized by low mercury content compared to other heavy metals. Spent foundry sands with low content of Hg are the main component of foundry waste. However, Hg may be present in foundry dust, which may also be landfilled. Due to Hg toxicity, even a minimal content may have a negative impact on biota. This study focuses on assessing the mercury content of landfilled foundry waste (LFW), to assess its toxicity. Currently tested waste is recovered and reused as a road aggregate. The results were compared with the mercury content of local soils as the reference level. Waste samples were taken from foundry landfill. The mercury content, fractional composition, organic matter (OM) and total organic carbon content, pH and elementary composition of waste were analysed. It was found that the mercury content in LFW was very low, at the level of natural content in soils and did not pose a threat to the environment. The statistical analysis shows that mercury was not associated with OM of the waste, in contrast to soils, probably due to different types of OM in both materials.


1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey ◽  
C. W. Nicol

We found no significant differences in slope or intercept for the regression of loge fecundity on loge fork length among samples of whitefish from four lakes near Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. The equation describing the relationship between fecundity and fork length for these populations was:[Formula: see text]Five other populations for which length–fecundity relationships could be calculated had length exponents ranging from 3.20 to 4.38, suggesting a nonlinear relationship between weight and fecundity. Six of the nine populations as well as four others for which limited data were available all had similar relative fecundities. Fish from Buck Lake in Alberta and from Lake Erie had high relative fecundities while fish from Great Slave Lake had low relative fecundity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (12) ◽  
pp. 1189-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Malov ◽  
L. V. Lukovnikova ◽  
Liliya A. Alikbayeva ◽  
I. S. Iakubova ◽  
D. K. Shchegolikhin

Introduction. Macromycetes include mercury compounds in their metabolism processes. The method for assessing the contamination of the soil layer (topsoil) by mercury by estimating the mercury content in the mushrooms is accessible and sufficiently informative. Mercury is a persistent inorganic ecotoxicant, it enters the human body from the environment. This process requires constant monitoring of the content of this hazardous metal in the environment and the in biomaterials of the human organism. Material and methods. The object of the study was selected bracket macromycetes growing on open soil areas: lawns, boulevards, parks, squares, etc. There were studied representatives from the fungal families as follows: Agaricacea, Boletaceae, Russu-laceae, Coprinaceae. Mushrooms were collected in the stage of sporulation, in the spring-summer-autumn period from 2002 to 2017. The determination of mercury in fungi was performed by atomic absorption method on specialized mercury analyzers of the “Julia” series (detection limit of 1 ng/g, the error of the method is not more than 15%). Mercury content in hair was determined in 1153 St. Petersburg residents aged from 0 to 80 years using atomic emission and mass spectrometry methods with inductively coupled argon plasma on devices Elan 9000 (Perkin Elmer, USA) and Optima 2000 V (Perkin Elmer, USA). Results. The results of the analysis of mushrooms collected in 2017 on one of the green streets of the industrial district of Saint-Petersburg demonstrate a high degree of mercury contamination of the megapolis. Mushrooms (Cinereus comatus) were collected at three locations of Alameda, separated by approximately 100 m, and were analyzed for the content of mercury in them. The following values of mercury in mushrooms were got is a 0.61 mg/kg, 0.83 mg/kg and 0.35 mg/kg. The hair of 1153 inhabitants of St.-Petersburg has been analyzed for mercury content. The highest concentrations of mercury have been established to be set at working population aged 18-64 years. This fact can be explained by the professional activities associated with the contact with mercury and active way of life, particularly with greater frequency of the use in the diet of mushrooms and other products, being potential sources of mercury. Discussion. The performed studies show the mercury concentration to be not only generalized but also stable. The pollution of the territory of St. Petersburg is little different from the pollution of the territories of other cities, where the mercury content in mushrooms is also found to be high in comparison with the permissible level. Conclusion. The obtained data indicate a high stable contamination of the territory of St. Petersburg and its nearest suburbs with mercury. Mercury and its compounds in environmental objects (mushrooms) can present the real danger to the health of the population, therefore there is a need for non-invasive monitoring of the content of mercury in biomaterials of the human organism and environmental objects.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 1997-2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff A. Black ◽  
Murray W. Lankester

Third-stage larvae of Cystidicola cristivomeri White, 1941, and C. farionis Fischer, 1798, migrated directly via the pneumatic duct to the swim bladder of lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, and rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, respectively. Larvae reached the swim bladder as early as 16 h after fish were infected using a stomach tube. At 4–10 °C, mature male and female C. cristivomeri and C. farionis were first recovered 67 and 210 days, and 112 and 235 days, respectively, after infection. Cystidicola cristivomeri is probably long-lived; there was no evidence that any died in lake trout infected for up to 600 days.Large numbers of third-stage cystidicolid larvae accumulated without maturing in the swim bladder of naturally infected lake whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, from Lake Nipigon, northwestern Ontario. When given to rainbow trout, these larvae matured and the adult nematodes were identical to C. farionis. These results suggest that the swim-bladder nematode that matures in lake whitefish is a distinct species.


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S1) ◽  
pp. s55-s63 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Mills ◽  
S. M. Chalanchuk

Responses of an unexploited population of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) to the fertilization of Lake 226 in the Experimental Lakes Area, northwestern Ontario, are described for the fifth through eighth years of fertilization (1977–80) and for three years after fertilization was terminated (1981–83). A vinyl curtain separated Lake 226 into two basins. One basin (L226NE) received additions of phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon; the other (L226SW) received nitrogen and carbon. Lake whitefish in L226NE were faster growing, had higher condition (k), were more numerous, had higher survival from age 0 to age 1, had greater biomass, and had greater production than L226SW whitefish from 1977 to 1980. Some of these effects continued in 1981 and 1982 after fertilization was terminated, but only biomass differences remained by 1983.


1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 945-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey

This report considers the possibility that exploited populations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) may show increased individual fecundity. Average fecundity of both species in three exploited lakes varied significantly between 1972 and 1976, while fecundity in an adjacent unexploited lake did not vary. Changes in the fecundity of whitefish and trout in the exploited lakes were not clearly related to the pattern and intensity of exploitation, but fecundity of both species increased in all exploited lakes after exploitation, with trout showing the greater response. Key words: fecundity, lake whitefish, lake trout, exploitation, northern Canada


1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1454-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Diana

Movements of six northern pike (Esox lucius) were monitored for 5 to 51 days by ultrasonic transmitters implanted surgically. The pike were inactive during 80% of the eight hundred and eighty-nine 5-min intervals monitored during summer and winter. No regular diel changes in activity were noted, except that pike were inactive at night. Swimming velocities calculated from gross displacements were maximum, 42 cm/s (0.91 body lengths (BL)/s); average, 23.1 cm/s (0.45 BL/s).Key words: movements, diel activity, seasonal activity, northern pike, Esox lucius; swimming speeds


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
Agata Bartkowiak ◽  
Hanna Jaworska ◽  
Szymon Różański

Abstract One of the major factors determining hazard for humans, animals and plants is the increased content of trace elements in the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the content of mercury in surface and subsurface horizons of alluvial soils intensively used for agriculture in aspect of relationship between soil components and Hg amount bound by the soil. The results showed that there was no mercury contamination and dominant component binding this element in analyzed soils was clay fraction. The determined concentrations of mercury were close to the geochemical background level.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 3344-3352
Author(s):  
Louise Savard ◽  
Guy Moreau

A complete linkage cluster analysis using the physical characteristics of the sampling sites has revealed the existence of five groups corresponding to five habitat types nonequally distributed in a northern Quebec river. According to the results of discriminant analysis using the relative abundance of the fish species present, these habitats support populations which differ by the relative abundance of species and not by the presence or absence of some particular species. A habitat is first characterized by a species living preferentially in this habitat, then by the other species inhabiting the area in an opportunistic way, and finally by some satellite species which do not seem to have any marked requirements. A habitat is considered as optimal for a species first if this species inhabits this area preferentially to others and secondly if this use is more advantageous for growth or condition factor. This seems to be confirmed for two of the most abundant species, northern pike (Esox lucius) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), both of which have a higher condition factor and a better growth in the part of the river where their optimal habitat is more frequently found.


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