Temporal increase in organic mercury in an endangered pelagic seabird assessed by century-old museum specimens
Methylmercury cycling in the Pacific Ocean has garnered significant attention in recent years, especially with regard to rising mercury emissions from Asia. Uncertainty exists concerning whether increases in anthropogenic emissions over time may have caused increased mercury bioaccumulation in the biota. To address this, we measured total mercury and, for a subset of samples, methylmercury (the bioaccumulated form of mercury) in museum feathers from an endangered seabird, the black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), spanning a 120-y period.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/14/1013865108.abstract?sid=10eecbca-70e7-4b07-8e30-92f44814fd0c