Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Marine biogeochemistry

Methylmercury manufacture

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 810–811 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

The neurotoxin methylmercury can accumulate in marine food webs, contaminating seafood. An analysis of the isotopic composition of fish in the North Pacific suggests that much of the mercury that enters the marine food web originates from low-oxygen subsurface waters.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Methylmercury (MeHg) and global warming.

References

  1. United Nations Environment Programme. Global Mercury Assessment: UNEP Report on Chemicals and Harmful Substances (2002); http://www.chem.unep.ch

  2. Blum, J. D. et al. Nature Geosci. 6, 879–884 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Topping, G. & Davies, I. M. Nature 290, 243–244 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mason, R. P. & Fitzgerald, W. F. Nature 347, 457–459 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cossa, D., Averty, B. & Pirrone, N. Limnol. Ocean. 54, 837–844 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sunderland, E. M., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Moreau, J. W., Strode, S. A. & Landing, W. M. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 23, GB2010 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cossa, D. et al. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 75, 4037–4052 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Parks, J. M. et al. Science 339, 1332–1335 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Suda, I., Suda, M. & Hirayama, K. Arch. Toxicol. 67, 365–368 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Amos, H. M., Jacob, D. J., Streets, D. G. & Sunderland, E. M. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 27, 410–421 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sarmiento, J. L. et al. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 18, GB3003 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang, J., Cowie, G. & Naqvi, S. W. A. Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 015025 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daniel Cossa is at the Institute of Earth Science, Université J. Fourier, BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble, France, and at the French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea, Mediterranean Center, F-83507 La Seyne-sur-Mer, France,

    Daniel Cossa

Authors
  1. Daniel Cossa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Cossa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cossa, D. Methylmercury manufacture. Nature Geosci 6, 810–811 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1967

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1967

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Microbiology

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology