Time resolution of mercury dose and lake sensitivity related to mercury content in fish

Abstract

This work treats data from 75 small, mainly oligotrophic Swedish forest lakes. The aim is to study and evaluate the temporal variation of different Hg-dose and lake sensitivity parameters vs. Hg in 1-kg pike and small perch (<10 g). The lakes were treated with different remedies (such as lake liming) during 1987 in order to reduce Hg-levels in fish. Lake water chemistry has a large seasonal variation but the yearly means is clearly affected by the treatments (mean alkalinity is increased from 0.05 to 0.19 mcq*L−1). There is a marked change of Hg in perch 2 yr after treatment; the median decrease is 33%, a further time delay of about 2 yr is suggested for Hg in pike. Among the dose parameters, Hg in material from sediment traps and in water the fraction RIHg seem to be affected by the remedies with an accentuated decrease during 1988, while a slight increase of total-Hg (THg) in water can be observed. A regression model where the Hg content in perch (Hg-pe) is predicted by Hg-dose, pH and lake water retention time is presented (r2=0.71, n=22) as an example of the importance of using time compatible data with respect to the effect parameter (Hg-pe).