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Mercury Concentrations in Fish From Contaminated Areas in Scottish Waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. Clark  and
G. Topping
G. Clark
Affiliation:
DAFS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB9 8DB
G. Topping
Affiliation:
DAFS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB9 8DB
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Extract

The disposal of wastes to sea is regulated internationally by the Oslo and Paris Conventions, which were ratified by the United Kingdom in 1975 and 1978 respectively. Under these Conventions the direct disposal of certain substances, for example mercury and cadmium compounds, is prohibited, unless they are present in wastes as trace constituents. Of particular concern in the case of mercury is its possible incorporation in the aquatic food chain and transfer to man via marine foodstuffs. There are many examples of accumulation of mercury by fish in contaminated areas e.g. Liverpool Bay (Norton & Murray, 1983; Franklin, 1987); Haifa Bay (Hornung & Krumgalz, 1984); Minimata Bay (Fujiki, 1980) and in river systems such as the Ems (Essink, 1980,1988).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 69 , Issue 2 , May 1989 , pp. 437 - 445
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1989

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