title: Hepatic and nephric mercury and selenium concentrations in common mergansers, Mergus merganser, from Baltic Region, Europe.
abstract: The subject of the present study was the piscivorous common mergansers (Mergus merganser). The total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), selenium (Se) inorganic mercury (InHg; THg - MeHg), percentage of THg that is MeHg (%MeHg), molar ratios (THg:Se, MeHg:Se, InHg:Se), and their mutual relations in livers and kidneys were determined in ducks from an Se-deficient area in Poland. The authors verified a hypothesis that, as a result of living in an Se-deficient region, mergansers from Poland should have higher THg:Se ratios than other waterbirds with similar THg tissue levels. Although a comparison of healthy mergansers from Poland and Canada showed similar THg tissue contents, the group in the present study had a few times lower Se levels and higher THg:Se ratios (overall means >1.7 in both livers and kidneys in all studied individuals) than the Canadian group and other European and North American waterbirds. The authors found significant correlations between various relations, including MeHg-THg, InHg-THg, Se-THg, %MeHg-THg, InHg/%THg-THg, %MeHg/THg-InHg, %InHg/THg-InHg, MeHg:Se-THg:Se, InHg:Se-THg:Se, InHg:Se-MeHg:Se in liver and InHg-THg, Se-THg, Se-InHg, %MeHg-THg, %MeHg-InHg, %InHg/THg-InHg, THg:Se-THg, InHg:Se-THg, MeHg:Se-MeHg, THg:Se-InHg, InHg:Se-InHg, and InHg:Se-THg:Se in kidney. It is likely that the main factor responsible for the high value of THG:Se ratio (>1) in mergansers from Poland is Se deficiency in central and northern Europe. Therefore, this element is unlikely to participate in the detoxification of Hg in these birds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Medical Parasitology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalisinska
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gorecki
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okonska
authors.forename: Bogumila
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pilarczyk
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomza-Marciniak
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budis
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lanocha
authors.forename: Danuta I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kosik-Bogacka
authors.forename: Katarzyna M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kavetska
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Macherzynski
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Golas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004372:Ducks; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D011044:Poland; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury; D012643:Selenium
keywords: Bird; Common mergansers; Mercury; Methylmercury; Selenium