By Darryl Fears, The Washington Post

Posted Oct. 14, 2013, at 5:32 a.m.

Last modified Oct. 14, 2013, at 9:16 a.m.
Under the watchful eyes of scientists, a little forage fish that lives off the coast of Maine developed a
strangely large appetite.
Killifish are not usually big eaters. But in warmer waters, at temperatures projected for the future by
climate scientists, their metabolism and their appetites go up, which is not a good thing if there are
toxins in their food.
In a lab experiment, researchers adjusted temperatures in tanks, tainted the killifishs food with traces of
methylmercury and watched as the fish stored high concentrations of the metal in their tissue.
In a field experiment in nearby salt pools, they observed as killifish in warmer pools ate their natural food
and stored metal in even higher concentrations, like some toxic condiment for larger fish that would later
prey on them.
The observation was part of a study showing how killifish at the bottom of the food chain will probably
absorb higher levels of methylmercury in an era of global warming and pass it on to larger predator fish,
such as the tuna stacked in shiny little cans in the cupboards of Americans and other people the world over.
The implication is this could play out in larger fish because their metabolic rate is also increasing, said
Celia Chen, a professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and one of six authors of the study.
Methylmercury isnt easily excreted, so it stays. It suggests that there will be higher methylmercury
concentrations in the fish humans eat as well.
Methylmercury is linked to high blood pressure, kidney disease and heart attacks in adults and slow neuro-
behavioral development in children. A thousand tons of the contaminant drops onto oceans every year from
power plant emissions, and more than 250 tons pour from the land into various waters as a result of
deforestation.
Top predators on land and sea have higher levels of mercury because of their prey. It is hard for any
organism to release the metal, causing it to accumulate, or biomagnify, as scientists say.
The study, Experimental and Natural Warming Elevates Mercury Concentrations in Estuarine Fish, was
published in the journal PLOS One in April, and officials at Dartmouth called attention to it ahead of last
weeks Minamata Convention on Mercury in Japan.
Delegates from 130 nations at the three-day convention that ended Friday met to sign a treaty that seeks to
greatly limit emissions from coal-fired power plants from industrial nations, mining operations in Africa
and other sources that pollute oceans.
Every U.S. state has issued fish consumption advisories for mercury, and there is a particular concern
among states bordering the Gulf of Mexico over health risks related to eating seafood containing mercury.
In spite of these concerns, there was no U.S. delegation in Japan. A small U.S. contingent rushed there
before the convention but was recalled to the United States when the federal government shut down,
according to a report by Scientific American.
No one from the U.S. is here and no one from the U.S. government will walk to the front of the room and
sign the treaty in front of the global community, Joseph DiGangi, an adviser at the International POPs
Elimination Network, a group devoted to reducing toxic chemicals, or persistent organic pollutants, was
quoted as saying.
A 2007 World Health Organization report warned that eating contaminated fish and shellfish is the main
source of methylmercury exposure and that the metal cannot be cooked out. The WHO recommended that
mercury should be eliminated wherever possible and that exposure should be reduced.
But the killifish study suggested a future of fish with higher levels of mercury in a warming world, not less.
The list of sources that place mercury in the air and water is long. In addition to power plants and
deforestation, there are industrial boilers, tooth fillings, car batteries, cosmetics, medical tools, vaccines
and even some soaps.
The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate, in both field and laboratory conditions, that
methylmercury concentrations in killifish increase with temperature, said the studys lead author, Jennifer
Dijkstra, a University of New Hampshire professor who was a researcher for the Wells National Estuarine
Research Reserve in Maine when the killifish were observed between July 2009 and September 2010.
This increase can be propagated up through the food web to fish that are consumed by humans, resulting
in greater human exposure to methylmercury, she said.
The other authors of the study were Kate Buckman of Dartmouth; Michele Dionne of the Wells research
reserve; David Evans, a researcher for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Center for
Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, N.C.; and Darren Ward, a researcher for the
Department of Fisheries Biology at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif.
The scientists decided to measure outdoor temperatures in the pristine salt pools where killifish dwell in
Maine and set temperatures in lab tanks at the research reserve that matched air and marine warming
projections by the worlds top climate scientists.
They found six salt pools of about the same size in wetlands of the Little River estuary along the Gulf of
Maine that had higher temperatures at different elevations.
Killifish in the field ate what they normally eat. In the lab they ate feed tainted with methylmercury. In both
cases, they fed greedily in warmer water. Because of their higher metabolism, killifish did not gain weight,
but they gained more metal than usual.
To determine that, the scientists collected the fish from the wild and labs using nets, then severed their little
spines to euthanize them for tests.
Methylmercury accumulation in killifish in a salt pool where the water temperature reached 71 degrees was
400 percent higher than killifish in a pool with cooler water, 64 degrees, over four months of study ending
in October 2010.
In the lab, methylmercury accumulation in killifish in tanks with the water temperature set at 80 degrees
was 30 percent higher than those in water set at 59 degrees. But that study was shorter, 30 days each in
March and May 2011.
What it suggests is with increased temperature the uptake of methylmercury is going to be higher. . . . You
can have higher contamination of fish tissue, Chen said. One of the most important effects will be the
temperature effect.











The first national map to show mercury concentrations across Canada, paints a toxic picture for loons and some
types of sport fish in this region.
The map, part of a soon-to-be-published research study in the journal, Environmental Science & Technology,
shows Eastern Canada has the highest levels of mercury in the country, posing a risk to fish-eating birds like
loons, some freshwater sport fish, like walleye, and other wildlife.
Our work is showing that Eastern Canada is particularly sensitive for mercury contamination. Even at very low
concentrations, atmospheric mercury is creating issues for our wildlife and fish, said Linda Campbell, an
associate professor of Environmental Studies at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.
Campbell, and Environment Canada scientists Neil Burgess in Newfoundland, and David Depew in Ontario
started the research four years ago.
Their findings are based on an analysis of 230,000 yellow perch from lakes and rivers across Canada. Yellow
perch are one of the most common species of freshwater fish in Canada and popular prey for wildlife like
common loons and walleye, Campbell said in an email interview.
As a result, yellow perch makes a great indicator for monitoring mercury in the aquatic environment, said
Campbell, also a Saint Mary's University Fellow in Environmental Sciences.
Mercury is emitted into the atmosphere from industrial processes, as well as the burning of coal and gas for
power generation, and deposited into lakes and rivers by precipitation. Once in water, it can be converted into
methylmercury, a type of organic mercury, which is more toxic and rapidly taken up by small algae and plankton
organisms and transferred along the food chain, Campbell said.
Methylmercury accumulates in living things and over time can reach high concentrations in fish-eating animals
such as loons and sport fish.
As it moves from west to east, the colour-coded map shows how Canadas mercury picture worsens.
Many yellow perch that the researchers analyzed in Eastern Canada were found to have mercury concentrations
thatexceed certain tolerance thresholds for loons and walleye.
Other studies have shown wildlife starts to demonstrate toxic responses to mercury at those concentrations,
Campbell said.
This research study assessed risk and didnt look at the actual health of loons or wildlife, but other studies in
southern Nova Scotia and Quebec have already found loon reproductive impacts. Those impacts include lower
ability to take care of young, few chicks being hatched and erratic behaviour, she said.
Campbell calls Eastern Canada the Goldilocks region for mercury geochemistry with a just right combination
of geography and water chemistry to convert atmospheric mercury to methylmercury in lakes.
Eastern Canada's lakes and soils are more acidic, which promote the conversion to methylmercury. It has forests
that accumulate and retain atmospheric mercury and then the leaves, and leaf litter enter the water cycle each
year. As well, fish in acidic lakes grow more slowly allowing a longer period for mercury to accumulate in their
muscle tissue.
The value of having the national map is to show the variations in mercury concentrations across the country and
those areas which need frequent monitoring.
It shows the pressing need to investigate ways to reduce mercury emissions from industrial processes and coal
and gas burning in any way possible, Campbell said.
The study received funds from Environment Canada and a discovery grant for the Natural Science and
Engineering Research Council of Canada.
About the Author
BY CLARE MELLOR STAFF REPORTER











GLOBAL - Nutrient enrichment and climate change are posing yet another concern of growing importance: an apparent
increase in the toxicity of some algal blooms in freshwater lakes and estuaries around the world, which threatens aquatic
organisms, ecosystem health and human drinking water safety.
As this nutrient enrichment, or "eutrophication" increases, so will the proportion of toxin-producing strains of cyanobacteria in harmful
algal blooms, scientists said.
Researchers from Oregon State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will outline recent findings in an analysis
Friday in the journal Science.
Cyanobacteria are some of the oldest microorganisms on Earth, dating back about 3.5 billion years to a time when the planet was void
of oxygen and barren of most life. These bacteria are believed to have produced the oxygen that paved the way for terrestrial life to
evolve. They are highly adaptive and persistent, researchers say, and today are once again adapting to new conditions in a way that
threatens some of the life they originally made possible.
A particular concern is Microcystis sp., a near-ubiquitous cyanobacterium that thrives in warm, nutrient-rich and stagnant waters around
the world. Like many cyanobacteria, it can regulate its position in the water column, and often forms green, paint-like scums near the
surface.
In a high-light, oxidizing environment, microcystin-producing cyanobacteria have a survival advantage over other forms of cyanobacteria
that are not toxic. Over time, they can displace the nontoxic strains, resulting in blooms that are increasingly toxic.
"Cyanobacteria are basically the cockroaches of the aquatic world, they're the uninvited guest that just won't leave," said Timothy Otten,
a postdoctoral scholar in the OSU College of Science and College of Agricultural Sciences. His work has been supported by the
National Science Foundation.
"When one considers their evolutionary history and the fact that they've persisted even through ice ages and asteroid strikes, it's not
surprising they're extremely difficult to remove once they've taken hold in a lake," he said. "For the most part, the best we can do is to
try to minimize the conditions that favor their proliferation."
Researchers lack an extensive historical record of bloom events and their associated toxicities to put current observations into a long-
term context. However, Otten said, "If you go looking for toxin-producing cyanobacteria, chances are you won't have to look very long
until you find some."
There are more than 123,000 lakes greater than 10 acres in size spread across the United States, and based on the last EPA National
Lakes Assessment, at least one-third may contain toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Dams; rising temperatures and carbon dioxide
concentrations; droughts; and increased runoff of nutrients from urban and agricultural lands are all compounding the problem.
Many large, eutrophic lakes such as Lake Erie are plagued each year by algal blooms so massive that they are visible from outer space.
Researchers studying cyanobacterial toxins say it's improbable that their true function was to be toxic, since they actually predate any
predators. New research suggests that the potent liver toxin and possible carcinogen, microcystin, has a protective role in cyanobacteria
and helps them respond to oxidative stress. This is probably one of the reasons the genes involved in its biosynthesis are so
widespread across cyanobacteria and have been retained over millions of years.
Because of their buoyancy and the location of toxins primarily within the cell, exposure risks are greatest near the water's surface, which
raises concerns for swimming, boating and other recreational uses.
Also, since cyanobacteria blooms become entrenched and usually occur every summer in impacted systems, chronic exposure to
drinking water containing these compounds is an important concern that needs more attention, Otten said.
"Water quality managers have a toolbox of options to mitigate cyanobacteria toxicity issues, assuming they are aware of the problem
and compelled to act," Otten said. "But there are no formal regulations in place on how to respond to bloom events.
"We need to increase public awareness of these issues," he said. "With a warming climate, rising carbon dioxide levels, dams on more
rivers than not, and overloading of nutrients into our waterways, the magnitude and duration of toxic cyanobacterial blooms is only going
to get worse."
TheFishSite News Desk
- See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/21622/nutrient-enrichment-and-climate-change-making-algal-blooms-more-
toxic#sthash.GQwYrH3t.dpuf
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Syafruddin menarik jaring ke atas kapal kayunya yang berhenti sekitar 3 kilometer dari
bibir pantai Muara Baru di Teluk Jakarta, Jumat pagi pada awal Oktober. Di antara aneka sampah yang
tersangkut pada jaringnya itu, Syafruddin memanen kerang hijau.

Sebanyak empat karung penuh berisi kerang hijau berhasil disisihkan dan dibawanya mendarat pada hari itu.
"Lumayan. Cuaca cerah bisa dapat banyak," kata dia sekembalinya di dermaga.

Syafruddin tidak sendiri. Ada beberapa nelayan kerang hijau lainnya juga melaut pada pagi itu. Setidaknya ada
tiga hingga empat kapal berangkat dari dermaga yang sama dekat tempat pembuangan sampah itu. "Apalagi jika
ada pesanan dari pedagang di pelelangan atau konsumen secara langsung, kerang lebih menguntungkan
daripada menangkap ikan, ujar Syafruddin lagi.

Syafruddin biasa menjual kerang hijaunya seharga Rp 4.000 per kilogram. Jenis kerang darah dan kerang madu
bahkan laku dijual seharga Rp 11 ribu per kilogram.

Di tangan para pedagang, harganya jelas bisa lebih tinggi lagi. Kerang hijau, menurut Dani, pedagang di Tempat
Pelelangan Ikan Muara Angke, biasa diserap oleh pengusaha warung-warung makan. Tdak jarang juga para
pembeli datang berombongan dan membeli sampai 10 kilogram untuk pesta dan makan besar, ujar dia.

Larisnya kerang hijau tangkapan dari Teluk Jakarta itu membuat Kepala Seksi Perikanan dan Kelautan Suku
Dinas Peternakan Perikanan dan Kelautan Jakarta Utara, Sri Haryati, prihatin. Dia menyatakan kalori tinggi
kerang hijau hanya berlaku untuk kerang yang berasal dari perairan yang tak tercemar.

Dia memastikan jenis kerang maupun ikan yang hidup di perairan Teluk Jakarta tak aman dikonsumsi. Kerang
dan ikan itu sudah terkontaminasi limbah industri dan logam berat, seperti merkuri, kadmium, dan seng, kata
dia.

Selain limbah industri, perairan Teluk Jakarta, dikatakannya, semakin tercemar dengan adanya limbah rumah
tangga yang tidak tersaring di rumah pompa air. Juga, dia menambahkan, ada pula pencemaran dari sisa-sisa
kapal bekas yang langsung dibuang ke laut. Kebanyakan berupa besi-besi bangkai kapal. Mestinya itu semua
sudah bisa terlihat dengan mata telanjang sekalipun, kata Sri.

Peneliti Pusat Penelitian Oseanografi Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Kasim Moosa, mengatakan
kandungan logam berat di perairan Teluk Jakarta mencapai 1,8-2 ppm. Tingkat pencemaran itu sangat parah jika
menilik batas maksimum yang ditetapkan Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup tentang baku mutu air laut. Di situ
disebutkan bahwa batas maksimum logam berat di wilayah biota laut, pelabuhan, dan wisata bahari masing-
masing tak boleh melewati 0,01; 0,03; dan 0,02 ppm. Tidak hanya kerang, semua jenis ikan jadi tidak aman
dikonsumsi, kata dia.

Menurut Kasim, beragam jenis kerang bisa dipanen dari Teluk Jakarta karena memang spesies bernama
Latin Perna veridis itu memiliki kemampuan untuk menyaring seluruh kandungan zat berbahaya pada
cangkangnya. Hewan ini mampu hidup meski mengakumulasi logam berat sekalipun. Itu sebabnya, buat
peneliti, kerang bermanfaat sebagai bioindikator pencemaran di perairan, kata dia.

AMRI MAHBUB