Total mercury levels in Loggerhead and Green sea turtle hatched eggshells from nests along the southeastern Mediterranean coast

IF 8.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Chemosphere Pub Date : 2025-10-10 DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144705

Jacob Silverman , Orin Levin , Yaniv Levy , Olga Rybak , Yael Segal , Aviv Shachnai , Mustafa Asfur

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Abstract

Sea turtles roam vast regions of the Mediterranean Sea throughout their lives, during which they accumulate mercury, primarily as a function of their tropic level, age and exposure. This study examined the spatial distribution of mercury in hatched eggshells of Loggerhead Sea turtles (Caretta caretta, n = 180) and Green Sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, n = 40) from nests along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. This was done to determine spatial trends of mercury exposure on a regional scale in nesting females, assuming that eggshell mercury levels are related to the gravid female's mercury burden. In this study, mercury levels were measured in ten hatched eggshells, sampled from 22 nests (18 Loggerhead and 14 Green Sea turtle nests) in four hatcheries along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, during the nesting seasons of 2022, and 2023.

The mean mercury level in Loggerhead eggshells was significantly higher than Green Sea turtle eggshells (7.8 ± 0.5 and 1.3 ± 0.2 ng g DW⁻¹ (mean ± standard error), respectively, Students t-test, p < 0.0001), possibly reflecting the differences in maternal trophic levels. Furthermore, mercury in Loggerhead eggshells decreased from the northern to the southern region of Israel, from 9.7 ± 0.8 ng g DW⁻¹ (n = 100) to 5.4 ± 0.3 ng g DW⁻¹ (n = 80), respectively. Finally, mercury levels in Loggerhead eggshells are substantially higher than previously reported values from other regions in the Mediterranean Sea and globally, suggesting that eastern Levantine female Sea turtles are more exposed to mercury pollution than other marine areas of the Mediterranean Sea and globally.

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红海龟和绿海龟的总汞含量在地中海东南海岸的巢中孵化蛋壳

海龟一生都在地中海的广大地区漫游，在此期间，它们会积累汞，这主要是它们的热带水平、年龄和暴露程度的函数。本研究考察了以色列地中海沿岸的红海龟（Caretta Caretta, n = 180）和绿海龟（Chelonia mydas, n = 40）孵化蛋壳中汞的空间分布。假设蛋壳汞含量与怀孕雌性的汞负荷有关，该研究是为了确定区域尺度上筑巢雌性汞暴露的空间趋势。在这项研究中，在2022年和2023年的筑巢季节，从以色列地中海沿岸四个孵卵场的22个巢（18个红海龟巢和14个绿海龟巢）中取样，测量了10个孵化蛋壳中的汞水平。红海龟蛋壳中汞的平均含量显著高于绿海龟蛋壳（分别为7.8±0.5和1.3±0.2 ng g DW−1（平均值±标准误差），学生t检验，p < 0.0001），可能反映了母体营养水平的差异。此外，从以色列北部到南部，红海龟蛋壳中的汞含量分别从9.7±0.8 ng g DW−1 （n = 100）下降到5.4±0.3 ng g DW−1 （n = 80）。最后，红海龟蛋壳中的汞含量大大高于以前报告的地中海其他地区和全球的汞含量，这表明东黎凡特雌性海龟比地中海其他海洋地区和全球更多地暴露于汞污染。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Chemosphere 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

15.80

自引率

8.00%

发文量

4975

审稿时长

3.4 months

期刊介绍： Chemosphere, being an international multidisciplinary journal, is dedicated to publishing original communications and review articles on chemicals in the environment. The scope covers a wide range of topics, including the identification, quantification, behavior, fate, toxicology, treatment, and remediation of chemicals in the bio-, hydro-, litho-, and atmosphere, ensuring the broad dissemination of research in this field.