Internal dynamics of inorganic and methylmercury in a marine fish: Insights from mercury stable isotopes

Mercury isotope ratios in fish tissues have been used to infer sources and biogeochemical processes of mercury in aquatic ecosystems. More experimental studies are however needed to understand the internal dynamics of mercury isotopes and to further assess the feasibility of using fish mercury isotope ratios as a monitoring tool. We exposed Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) to food pellets spiked with varying concentrations (400, 1600 ng/g) of methylmercury (MeHg) and inorganic mercury (IHg) for 10 weeks. Total mercury (THg), MeHg concentrations, and mercury isotope ratios (delta Hg-202, Delta Hg-199, Delta Hg-200) were measured in the muscle, liver, kidney, and intestine of fish. Fish fed mercury unamended food pellets and MeHg amended food pellets showed absence of internal delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199 fractionation in all tissue type. For fish fed IHg food pellets, the delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199 values of intestine equilibrated to those of the IHg food pellets. Kidney, muscle, and liver exhibited varying degrees of isotopic mixing toward the IHg food pellets, consistent with the degree of IHg bioaccumulation. Liver showed additional positive delta Hg-202 shifts (similar to 0.63 parts per thousand) from the binary mixing line between the unamended food pellets and IHg food pellets, which we attribute to redistribution or biliary excretion of liver IHg with a lower delta Hg-202 to other tissues. Significant delta Hg-202 fractionation in the liver and incomplete isotopic equilibration in the muscle indicate that these tissues may not be suitable for source monitoring at sites heavily polluted by IHg. Instead, fish intestine appears to be a more suitable proxy for identifying IHg sources. The results from our study are essential for determining the appropriate fish tissues for monitoring environmental sources of IHg and MeHg. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.