Avtor/Urednik		Gnamuš, A; Horvat, M
Naslov		Mercury in terrestrial food webs of the Idrija mining area
Tip		članek
Vir		In: Ebinghaus R, Turner RR, de Lacerda L, et al, editors. Mercury contaminated sites: characterization, risk assessment and remediation. Berlin: Springer,
Leto izdaje		1999
Obseg		str. 281-320
Jezik		eng
Abstrakt		To evaluate the degree of contamination with mercury and its transfer in food webs in the actve mercury mining area of Idrija, concentrations in soil profiles, plants and animal tissues were analyzed during the period from 1990 to 1996. Total mercury (T-Hg) and methylmercury concentrations (Me-Hg) were determined in body tissues and fur of roe deer, Capreolus capreolus L. (n =20), their diet (composite plant samples of a minimum of 40 plant species), soil samples, and in tissues of their predators such as the wolf, Canis lupus L. (n =2), and lynx, lynx L. (n =8). The study was focused on the wider area of the active mercury mine in Idrija, the abandoned mercury mining area in Podljubelj, where mining and smelting ceased in 1900, and five non-polluted locations in Slovenia. Special attention was paid to proper sample collection, preparation and storage. The concentration levels of total and methylmercury in roe deer tissues are correlated with those in their composite vegetal diet, and soil samples from the polluted area. A correlation with the distance from the mercury source was observed (T-Hg: r2 < 0.62; Me-Hg: r2 < 0.73). Herbivore tissues which originate from the active mining area contain up to 350 times higher concentrations of mercury than controls. The tissues of old animals mostly contain high Hg concentrations compared to the correspoinding tissues of young animals. However, in the Idrija area the relationship with the age of roe deer was less distinctive due to the influence of the particular spatial exposure gradient. Total mercury concentrations in roe deer organs descend as follows: kidney >> liver > fur > pineal gland >> suprarenal gland > spleen > masseter muscle > lung > pituitary gland > eye sections > sections of the central nervous system (CNS). (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)
Deskriptorji		MERCURY POISONING MERCURY ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS AIR POLLUTANTS AIR POLLUTION FOOD CONTAMINATION ANIMALS, WILD PLANT POISONING POISONS