Nature Communications (Jul 2020)

Methylmercury produced in upper oceans accumulates in deep Mariana Trench fauna

  • Ruoyu Sun,
  • Jingjing Yuan,
  • Jeroen E. Sonke,
  • Yanxu Zhang,
  • Tong Zhang,
  • Wang Zheng,
  • Shun Chen,
  • Mei Meng,
  • Jiubin Chen,
  • Yi Liu,
  • Xiaotong Peng,
  • Congqiang Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17045-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Monomethylmercury is a toxin that humans can be exposed to after consumption of seafood in which it has bioaccumulated. Here the authors show that amphipods in the deepest point of the global ocean contain monomethylmercury with surface origins, suggesting rapid sinking of this toxin on particles.