Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41, 2745-2749
Mercury Speciation in Piscivorous Fish from Mining-Impacted Reservoirs J A M E S S . K U W A B A R A , * ,† Y U J I A R A I , ‡ BRENT R. TOPPING,† INGRID J. PICKERING,§ AND GRAHAM N. GEORGE§ U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Mail Stop 439, Menlo Park, California 94025, Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences, 270 Poole Agricultural Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634-0315, and the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2 Canada
Guadalupe Reservoir (GUA), California, and Lahontan Reservoir (LAH), Nevada, U.S. are both affected either directly or indirectly by the legacy of gold and silver mining in the Sierra Nevada during the nineteenth century. Analysis of total mercury in fish from these lentic systems consistently indicate elevated concentrations (>1 µg‚g-1 wet weight; hereinafter, all concentrations are reported as wet weight unless indicated otherwise) well above the U.S. Environmenal Protection Agency’s human consumption advisory level for fish (
