title: Spatial and temporal distribution of mercury and methylmercury in bivalves from the French coastline.
abstract: Marine mercury (Hg) concentrations have been monitored in the French coastline for the last half a century using bivalves. The analyses presented in this study concerned 192 samples of bivalves (mussels: Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis and oysters: Crassostrea gigas and Isognomon alatus) from 77 sampling stations along the French coast and in the French Antilles sea. The goals of this study were to assess MeHg levels in various common bivalves from French coastline, and to identify possible geographic, taxonomic or temporal variations of concentrations. We show that the evolution of methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations covary with total mercury (HgT) concentrations. Moreover, in most of the study sites, HgT concentrations have not decreased since 1987, despite regulations to decrease or ban mercury used for anthropic activities.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Briant
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chouvelon
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brach-Papa
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Chiffoleau
authors.affiliation: Université Bordeaux, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Savoye
authors.affiliation: Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Laboratoire Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS/IRD/université Paul-Sabatier, 14, avenue Edouard-Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sonke
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Contaminants Métalliques, Ifremer, Centre Atlantique, F-44311, Nantes Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knoery
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005602:France; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D049878:Mytilus / Q000737:chemistry*; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Bivalves; France; Mercury; Methylmercury; Speciation