Characteristics of plankton Hg bioaccumulations based on a global data set and the implications for aquatic systems with aggravating nutrient imbalance

Highlights

• Hg bioaccumulation by phytoplankton varies among aquatic ecosystems.

• Active Hg uptake may exist for the phytoplankton in aquatic ecosystems.

• Impacts of nutrient imbalance on food chain Hg transfer should be addressed.

Abstract

The bioaccumulation of mercury (Hg) in aquatic ecosystem poses a potential health risk to human being and aquatic organism. Bioaccumulations by plankton represent a crucial process of Hg transfer from water to aquatic food chain. However, the current understanding of major factors affecting Hg accumulation by plankton is inadequate. In this study, a data set of 89 aquatic ecosystems worldwide, including inland water, nearshore water and open sea, was established. Key factors influencing plankton Hg bioaccumulation (i.e., plankton species, cell sizes and biomasses) were discussed. The results indicated that total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in plankton in inland waters were significantly higher than those in nearshore waters and open seas. Bioaccumulation factors for the logarithm of THg and MeHg of phytoplankton were 2.4–6.0 and 2.6–6.7 L/kg, respectively, in all aquatic ecosystems. They could be further biomagnified by a factor of 2.1–15.1 and 5.3–28.2 from phytoplankton to zooplankton. Higher MeHg concentrations were observed with the increases of cell size for both phyto- and zooplankton. A contrasting trend was observed between the plankton biomasses and BAF_MeHg, with a positive relationship for zooplankton and a negative relationship for phytoplankton. Plankton physiologic traits impose constraints on the rates of nutrients and contaminants obtaining process from water. Nowadays, many aquatic ecosystems are facing rapid shifts in nutrient compositions. We suggested that these potential influences on the growth and composition of plankton should be incorporated in future aquatic Hg modeling and ecological risk assessments.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Plankton / Hg bioaccumulation / Physiological characteristics / A cross-system analysis / Nutrient compositions / Global data set

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41977324 and 41630748) and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 20JCYBJC01080). We appreciate discussions with colleagues on an earlier version of the manuscript. Prof. Enzo Lombi from UniSA, Australia has provided help in polishing the language of the manuscript.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1471-x and is accessible for authorized users.

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