Submission + - Fog can lift mercury out of ocean water, leading to toxic accumulations in coast (gtweekly.com)
An anonymous reader writes: We've known for a while that coal combustion leads to airborn mercury, which eventually deposits into the sea and bioaccumulates through the food chain. (So that mouthful of mercury you just had in your tuna sandwich for lunch is most likely due to the coal plants ultimately providing the electricity for users such as you.)
But a recent study of pumas in Santa Cruz, California, finds evidence that the mercury transit may be more complex than we thought. Researchers were surprised by mercury accumulation in the local puma population, and traced it back to California's famous central coast fog. They surmise that the fog lifts the mercury out of the ocean and deposits it on land, where it accumulates in vegetation such as California's famous redwoods, and then up the trophic levels into spiders, mice, deer, and eventually, apex predators such pumas.
Tissue comparisons with Sierra Nevada pumas showed that the non-coastal pumas had normal levels of mercury, even in individuals known to be living near mercury sources such as old mines.
But a recent study of pumas in Santa Cruz, California, finds evidence that the mercury transit may be more complex than we thought. Researchers were surprised by mercury accumulation in the local puma population, and traced it back to California's famous central coast fog. They surmise that the fog lifts the mercury out of the ocean and deposits it on land, where it accumulates in vegetation such as California's famous redwoods, and then up the trophic levels into spiders, mice, deer, and eventually, apex predators such pumas.
Tissue comparisons with Sierra Nevada pumas showed that the non-coastal pumas had normal levels of mercury, even in individuals known to be living near mercury sources such as old mines.
