title: Geographic distribution of selected elements in the livers of polar bears from Greenland, Canada and the United States.
abstract: To assess geographic distributions of elements in the Arctic we compared essential and non-essential elements in the livers of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) collected from five regions within Canada in 2002, in Alaska between 1994 and 1999 and from the northwest and east coasts of Greenland between 1988 and 2000. As, Hg, Pb and Se varied with age, and Co and Zn with gender, which limited spatial comparisons across all populations to Cd, which was highest in Greenland bears. Collectively, geographic relationships appeared similar to past studies with little change in concentration over time in Canada and Greenland for most elements; Hg and Se were higher in some Canadian populations in 2002 as compared to 1982 and 1984. Concentrations of most elements in the polar bears did not exceed toxicity thresholds, although Cd and Hg exceeded levels correlated with the formation of hepatic lesions in laboratory animals.
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Athens, GA 30602-2152, USA.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rush
authors.forename: Katrine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Borgå
authors.forename: Rune
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: Erik W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Born
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sonne
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Derek C G
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Muir
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Letcher
authors.forename: Ross J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Norstrom
authors.forename: Aaron T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Fisk
mesh_terms: D000413:Alaska; D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D002170:Canada; D003035:Cobalt / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006116:Greenland; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013995:Time; D001503:Ursidae / Q000378:metabolism*; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008670:Metals; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D003035:Cobalt; D008628:Mercury; D012643:Selenium; D015032:Zinc; D001151:Arsenic