A Review of Freshwater Invertebrates as Biomonitors of Methylmercury: the Importance of More Complete Physical and Chemical Reporting

Abstract

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a toxic and bioaccumulative organo-metallic compound that is naturally produced in many ecosystems. Organisms that occupy the lower trophic positions in food webs may be key factors in the assessment of MeHg biomagnification between ecosystems. Here we present a review of the peer-reviewed literature examining MeHg bioaccumulation in freshwater invertebrates, focused principally on insects. This review aims to characterize the invertebrates that bioaccumulate higher MeHg concentrations and therefore pose a higher risk to upper trophic levels and to clarify which ecosystems are more susceptible to bioaccumulation in lower trophic levels. However, we found that few studies provided robust environmental data (notably water chemistry) as part of their papers, dramatically limiting our ability to test for factors that might contribute to different concentrations of MeHg in invertebrates. We highlight the importance of providing physical and chemical characteristics of study sites in publications examining MeHg bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Adopting the proposed recommendations will improve the available information for future mercury risk assessment analyses.

Keywords: Bioaccumulation; Biomagnification; Invertebrates; Mercury; Methylmercury; Risk assessment.