Mercury levels in the ocean have more than tripled in some regions as a result of human activity, a new study reports. Researchers measured mercury levels during several recent expeditions to the Atlantic, Pacific, Southern and Arctic oceans.
The research team found that mercury content of surface water had three times the amount of mercury compared to the levels found in ‘unaffected’ deep waters. They found that the deep North Atlantic waters and most intermediate waters are enriched in mercury relative to the ‘unaffected’ deep waters of the South Atlantic, Southern and Pacific oceans.
This is the first time oceanographic measurements have been made to verify the impact of human activity on the global rise of mercury in the oceans.
Original research paper published in the journal Nature on August 6, 2014.
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