mercury and fish - dartmouth toxic metals superfund research program

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cury and fish - Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program

://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/index.html[04/02/2013 23:23:24]

Mercury

Mercury: From Source toSeafood

C-MERC

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Coastal and Marine MercuryEcosystem ResearchCollaborative (C-MERC)

In 2012, C-MERC authors published a

series of scientific papers in the journals

Environmental ResearchandEnvironmental Health Perspectives that

elucidated key processes related to the

inputs, cycling, and uptake of mercury

in marine ecosystems, effects on human

health, and policy implications.

Sources to Seafoodlooks at the

pathways and consequences of mercury

pollution across marine systems by

drawing on findings from the C-MERC

papers, scientific literature and data

from a range of marine systems and coastal basins. The report examines

mercury sources, pathways, and inputs for the Hudson River Estuary, San

Francisco Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Gulf

of Maine, Arctic Ocean, and the open ocean.

Sources to Seafood Complete Report

Report Summary

Press Release

Environmental Research Special Issue

Researcher Bios

Background Information

Background on C-MERC

In 2010, the Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program at Dartmouth

College brought together a group of 50 scientists and policy stakeholders

to form C-MERC, the Coastal and Marine Mercury Ecosystem Research

Collaborative. The goal was to review current knowledge - and knowledge

gaps relating to a global environmental health problem: mercury

contamination of the world's marine fish. C-MERC participants attended

two workshops over a two-year period and in 2012, C-MERC authors

published a series of scientific papers in the journals Environmental

Research and Environmental Health Perspectives that elucidated key

processes related to the inputs, cycling, and uptake of mercury in marine

ecosystems, effects on human health, and policy implications.

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http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury-source-to-seafood/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury-source-to-seafood/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/links.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/facts-on-mercury.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/history.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/research-projects/arsenic-mercury-fate.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/toxic-metals/more-metals/index.htmlhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00139351/119http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00139351/119http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/cmercpapers.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_summary.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/cmercpressrelease.pdfhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00139351/119http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/cmerc_report_bios.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/c_merc_links.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/arsenic/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/community-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/research-projects/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/program-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/news-events/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/about/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/about/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/about/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/news-events/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/news-events/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/program-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/program-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/research-projects/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/research-projects/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/community-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/community-resources/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/arsenic/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/arsenic/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/c_merc_links.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/cmerc_report_bios.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/cmerc_report_bios.pdfhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00139351/119http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/cmercpressrelease.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_summary.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_summary.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/cmercpapers.htmlhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00139351/119http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/toxic-metals/more-metals/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/research-projects/arsenic-mercury-fate.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/history.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/facts-on-mercury.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/links.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury-source-to-seafood/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury-source-to-seafood/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/mercury/index.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/index.html


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The resulting 11 papers cover six ocean regions, consider the additional

factors affecting mercury cycling in ocean systems, provide a discussion of

the related policy, and discuss low level effects on human health and fish

consumption advice. These papers are synthesized in the report

Sources to Seafood: Mercury Pollution in the Marine Environment,

which will inform policies being considered at regional, national, and

global levels.

The Workshops

Two inter-related, invitational workshops (the first of which was held in

Portsmouth, NH September 8-10, 2010 and the next in Halifax NS on July

23, 2011) allowed researchers and policymakers to gather and synthesize

knowledge about mercury in marine systems, focusing on seven ocean

systems and a range of emerging global mercury topics. The meetings

were working sessions which included the development of questions from

policymakers to be addressed as part of the development of the scientific

synthesis papers on mercury in marine environments. Scientists involved

with mercury deposition, biogeochemical cycling, trophic transfer,

ecotoxicology, and human health related research connected with policy

stakeholders from EPA, NOAA, FDA, industry and NGOs to examine the

implications for human exposure, public health and related issues

pertaining to national and global mercury policy.

Several C-MERC papers were included as part of a special session during

the 10th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant and

C-MERC will be highlighted during the 11th International Conference on

Mercury as a Global Pollutant.

C-MERC Objectives

Despite the significant connection between the bioaccumulation of

mercury in marine food webs and dietary consumption of fish by

humans, many important uncertainties and gaps exist in our

understanding of the sources of methylmercury in marine systems and

the pathways to human exposure. Our original objectives were:

1) To develop a network of scientists who study the distribution and

controls of mercury in water, sediment, and the food web (including

humans) in marine systems.

2) To facilitate communication between stakeholders and scientists about

the important mercury questions relevant to environmental health policy.

3) To provide a forum for mercury scientists to communicate their results

with other investigators and facilitate the exchange of information

between environmental geochemists, biologists, engineers,

ecotoxicologists, and epidemiologists.

4) To identify key questions about mercury in marine systems and

exposure to humans via seafood consumption to facilitate the analysis of

existing data to address those questions.

5) To identify a series of proposed manuscripts and applicable data sets

addressing key questions, which will provide the foundation for

publication of a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.

The Collaborative is modeled after

workshops held in 2006 by Dartmouth's

Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program,

which focused on identifying research and
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/paperlist.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/cmerc-workshop-1.htmlhttp://mercury2011.org/2013_conferencehttp://mercury2011.org/2013_conferencehttp://mercury2011.org/2013_conferencehttp://mercury2011.org/2013_conferencehttp://mercury2011.org/2013_conferencehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/C-MERC/cmerc-workshop-1.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/paperlist.pdfhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/paperlist.pdf


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monitoring needs for mercury in marine

ecosystems and which resulted in several

publications, including a special volume of

EcoHealth devoted to methylmercury and

papers in Environmental HealthPerspectives.

C-MERC Fact Sheet

Supported by the National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences Superfund

Research Program

Contact Us | Current location: home >C-MERC > index.html (36/259)

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