application) ? ? Though much of the biogeochemical and ecological research on mercury has focused on freshwater and forested ecosystems, the transport of mercury goes far beyond these systems and ultimately ends in coastal waters and marine food webs. Moreover, humans consume far more fish and shellfish, the primary vector for mercury, from marine systems than freshwater systems. In both freshwater and marine food webs, bioavailability of mercury at each trophic level links the environmental fate of mercury to human risk. Management regimes reducing mercury emissions are expected to reduce mercury exposure for both humans and wildlife, but the effects of these changes on food webs will only be known through long-term monitoring. Consideration of how, where, and when standardized spatial and temporal monitoring of mercury endpoints can be implemented is important to ensuring that management regimes accomplish their goals. The goal of the proposed workshop is to summarize and synthesize research on environmental fate and bioavailability of mercury in order to: 1) extend current research on mercury in upland forests and lakes to rivers, estuaries, and coastal marine systems, where people get most of their fish and shellfish and exposure to mercury; 2) identify knowledge gaps regarding the links between bioavailability of mercury in aquatic food webs and human exposure; and 3) discuss the feasibility and implementation of regional and national long-term monitoring programs aimed at evaluating the effects of reducing mercury sources and emissions. ? ? ? ?
Showing the most recent 10 out of 372 publications
