Insights into low fish mercury bioaccumulation in a mercury-contaminated reservoir, Guizhou, China

We examined Hg biogeochemistry in Baihua Reservoir, a system affected by industrial wastewater containing mercury (Hg). As expected, we found high levels of total Hg (THg, 664–7421 ng g−1) and monomethylmercury (MMHg, 3–21 ng g−1) in the surface sediments (0–10 cm). In the water column, both THg and MMHg showed strong vertical variations with higher concentrations in the anoxic layer (>4m) than in the oxic layer (0–4 m), which was most pronounced for the dissolved MMHg (p < 0.001). However, mercury levels in biota samples (mostly cyprinid fish) were one order of magnitude lower than common regulatory values (i.e. 0.3–0.5 mg kg−1) for human consumption. We identified three main reasons to explain the low fish Hg bioaccumulation: disconnection of the aquatic food web from the high MMHg zone, simple food web structures, and biodilution effect at the base of the food chain in this eutrophic reservoir.

► Baihua Reservoir was contaminated by industrial wastewater containing Hg.
► Elevated Hg levels were found in the sediment and anoxic water column.
► However, Hg concentration in biota samples (mostly carps) remained low.
► We found three main explanations for the low fish Hg levels in Baihua Reservoir.