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TRACE METALS AND METHYL MERCURY: ASSOCIATIONS AND TRANSFER IN HARP SEAL (PHOCA GROENLANDICA) MOTHERS AND THEIR PUPS |
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| Authors: | R Wagemann R E A Stewart W L Lockhart B E Stewart M Povoledo |
| Institution: | Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Central and Arctic Region, Freshwater Institute, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N6;Department of the Environment, Environmental Conservation and Protection Service, 800-275 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 2B3. |
| Abstract: | Milk samples from the stomachs of harp seal pups were analysed for Cu, Zn, Se, Cd and Hg, as were liver, kidney, and muscle from mother-pup pairs. Tissues were also analysed for MeHg. Milk contained, in addition to essential trace metals, Cd and Hg (57 ng/g and 6.5 ng/g respectively). Pups had mercury in all three tissues. The percent methyl mercury in liver of pups was higher than in liver of mothers. Mercury in muscle was mostly methyl mercury in both mothers and pups. Total mercury in liver of mothers but not pups was correlated positively with selenium. Estimates of ingested mercury by pups indicated they had acquired most of their mercury during gestation. Although mothers had cadmium in liver and kidney, it was not detected in tissues of pups. Cadmium did not transfer across the placenta, while mercury did. Tissue concentrations of Cu and Zn were higher in pups than mothers. The presence of metallothionein in pup tissues was postulated. A strong positive correlation of copper and selenium between mothers and pups indicated transfer of these elements from mother to pup in direct proportion to their concentrations in maternal liver and kidney. |
| Keywords: | harp seal Phoca groenlandica mother-pup pairs milk trace metals methyl mercury contaminants placental transfer |