title: Comparison of hepatic and nephric total mercury concentrations between feral and ranch American mink (Neovison vison) from northwestern Poland.
abstract: For many years the American mink (Neovison vison) has been used in North America (where it originates from) as a sensitive indirect bioindicator in assessing the degree of mercury (Hg) contamination in terrestrial ecosystems. The aim of this paper was the determination of total concentrations of Hg in the liver and kidneys of feral and ranch mink from the Warta Mouth National Park (WMNP) and from farms located in northwestern Poland, for comparison with similar data on American mink from North America. In road-killed feral mink from the WMNP, the mean concentrations were 11.8 and 14.1 mg/kg dry weight in the liver and kidney, respectively. Mean Hg concentrations in feral mink were from 240 to 90 times higher in these two respective tissues than in ranch mink. The feral mink from northwestern Poland had concentrations of hepatic and nephric Hg similar to the highest concentrations that have been recorded over the past several decades in wild American mink from certain areas of Canada and the USA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Medical Parasitology, Pomeranian Medical University, Powstancow Wielkopolskich 72, 70-111, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalisinska
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budis
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lanocha
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Podlasinska
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jedrzejewska
authors.forename: Danuta I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kosik-Bogacka
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism*; D008907:Mink / Q000378:metabolism*; D011044:Poland
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury