Elevated mercury and PCB concentrations in Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) collected near a formerly used defense site on Sivuqaq, Alaska.

ABSTRACT: Environmental pollution causes adverse health effects in many organisms and contributes to health disparities for Arctic communities that depend on subsistence foods, including the Yupik residents of Sivuqaq (St. Lawrence Island), Alaska. Sivuqaq's proximity to Russia made it a strategic location for U.S. military defense sites during the Cold War. Two radar surveillance stations were installed on Sivuqaq, including at the Northeast Cape. High levels of persistent organic pollutants and toxic metals continue to leach from the Northeast Cape formerly used defense (FUD) site despite remediation efforts. We quantified total mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures, in skin and muscle samples from Dolly Varden (Salvelinus

SUBMITTER: Jordan-Ward R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9078153 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature