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Heavy metal concentrations in female wild mink ( Neovison vison ) in Sweden: Sources of variation and associations with internal organ weights
Author(s) -
Ljungvall Karl,
Magnusson Ulf,
Korvela Marcus,
Norrby Mattias,
Bergquist Jonas,
Persson Sara
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.3717
Subject(s) - mink , cadmium , mercury (programming language) , environmental chemistry , chemistry , toxicity , mercure , biomonitoring , zoology , biology , toxicology , ecology , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
The American mink is an invasive species in Sweden, and it is legally hunted all year. Therefore, the mink is well suited as a sentinel species for environmental monitoring. In the present study female mink ( n = 91) from 6 different areas in Sweden were analyzed for the concentrations of silver, cadmium, mercury and lead in liver tissue using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The wet concentrations in liver tissue were 42.6 ± 52.7 ng/g for silver, 99.5 ± 100 ng/g for cadmium, 652 ± 537 ng/g for mercury, and 196 ± 401 ng/g for lead (expressed as mean ± standard deviation). There were associations between the sample area and the concentrations of silver, lead, and mercury. The concentrations of lead and cadmium varied with season of capture and lead, cadmium, and mercury were positively associated with increasing age. Relative liver weight was positively associated with concentrations of mercury and negatively associated with lead and cadmium. Relative kidney weight was negatively associated with lead concentrations. In summary, it is of importance to take age and season of capture into account when assessing levels of heavy metals in wild mink. Also, liver and kidneys seem to be potential targets for heavy metal toxicity in wild female mink in Sweden. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2030–2035. © 2016 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC