title: Mercury in alpine fish from four rivers in the Tibetan Plateau.
abstract: As a global pollutant, high levels of mercury (Hg) have been found in remote ecosystem due to the long range atmospheric transport. In this study, a total of 60 fish samples were collected from four rivers across the Tibetan Plateau to study the accumulation of Hg in remote and high-altitude aquatic environment. The total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in fish muscles ranged from 11 to 2097 ng/g dry weight (dw) (average: 819 ng/g dw) and from 14 to 1960 ng/g dw (average: 756 ng/g dw), respectively. Significantly positive linear relationships were observed between the THg (r=0.591, p<0.01, n=36) and MeHg concentrations (r=0.473, p<0.01, n=36) with the trophic level of fish from Lhasa River, suggesting trophic transfer and biomagnification of Hg in this aquatic ecosystem. Moreover, the THg levels in fish had significantly positive correlations with the length (r=0.316, p<0.05, n=60) and weight (r=0.271, p<0.05, n=60) of fish. The high levels of Hg were attributed to the slow growth and long lifespan of the fish under this sterile and cold environment. Risk assessment revealed that the consumption of Oxygymnocypris stewartii, Schizothorax macropogon, Schizothorax waltoni, Schizopygopsis younghusbandi and Schizothorax o'connori would lead to a high exposure to MeHg.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Junjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: jbshi@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Science Faculty, Tibet University, Lhasa 850000, China.
authors.forename: Bu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chengbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Jianjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Ruiqiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Guibin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D012306:Risk; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D018609:Tibet; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Fish; Mercury; Methylmercury; Risk assessment; The Tibetan Plateau; Trophic level