This data release includes mercury concentrations and mercury stable isotope measurements measured in sediments and biological tissues collected from the Saint Louis River located in Minnesota. Sediments and biota were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and federal contractors (Battelle) from 2017-2021. Collection regions included nearshore zones within the main estuary, remedial sites within the lower river, and upstream reservoir sites. Sediments were analyzed for total mercury, methylmercury, and mercury stable isotopes by the U.S. Geological Survey Mercury Research Laboratory (MRL, Madison, Wisconsin). Biological samples were analyzed for total and methylmercury by the MRL or the Contaminant Ecology Research Laboratory (CERL, Corvallis, Oregon); mercury stable isotopes were analyzed by the MRL.

This data release includes results of raw water, soil, seston, and fish tissue samples collected from 14 lakes within Lake Clark National Park and Katmai National Park between 2007 and 2017. Specifically, these data include total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in water, size-sieved seston, and particulate matter. Additionally, these data include soil and volcanic ash measurements from the surrounding watersheds. Finally, these data include energetic profiling of seston, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as well as mercury isotope measurements of the fishes. These data, except for Lake Clark data, were use in interpreting mercury mass balance flows and bioavailability to the food web and are a part of an associated journal article published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00096). Lake Clark data include mercury and methylmercury concentrations in water, seston, and fish tissue from 2011 and 2012. Mercury isotope measurements were not collected as part of this assessment. These data were used to understand drivers of bioaccumulation within predator fish from southwest Alaska and are part of an associated journal article published in Environmental Pollution (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121678).

This dataset presents mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentration data in waters (surface river water and community drinking water), biota, plant, and sediments that were collected across eight communities along the Pra and Ankobra Rivers in Western Ghana. Water and sediment samples were collected in October 2024 from eight rivers along the Ankobra and Pra Rivers, two rivers heavily impacted by artisanal-scale gold mining (ASGM) activity. Fish and plant samples were obtained from the communities when available as samples of opportunity. This project was a part of the Embassy Science Fellowship program coordinated by the U.S. State department and all samples were collected in collaboration with the USGS Mercury Research Laboratory (MRL), the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, and Hen Mpoano, a non-governmental organization in Ghana. All samples were processed and analyzed at the USGS MRL in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Great Salt Lake (GSL) is a designated Site of Hemispheric Importance for migratory birds by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Elevated mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) levels related to current inputs and past industrial contamination pose a potential threat to GSL biota, in addition to waterfowl hunters that utilize GSL and surrounding wetland areas. Sediments, invertebrates (brine shrimp, brine flies, and spiders), and waterfowl (northern shoveler and cinnamon teal) were targeted within these studies to determine relative source contributions of Hg and trace elements to the GSL system, determine which sources of mercury are actively bioaccumulating in GSL food webs, assess controls on mercury cycling within the GSL system, and assess MeHg toxicity risk to waterfowl. Hg stable isotopes were heavily employed as tracers of Hg sources and processing. These data are a part of larger studies and associated with upcoming journal articles.

Supplementary data for "Vreedzaam A, Ouboter P, Hindori-Mohangoo AD, Lepak R, Rumschlag S, Janssen S, Landburg G, Shankar A, Zijlmans W, Lichtveld MY, Wickliffe JK. Contrasting mercury contamination scenarios and site susceptibilities confound fish mercury burdens in Suriname, South America. Environ Pollut. 2023 Nov 1;336:122447. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122447. Epub 2023 Aug 28. PMID: 37648055; PMCID: PMC10756560.". This dataset is associated with the following publication: Vreedzaam, A., P. Ouboter, A. Hindori-Mohangoo, R. Lepak, S. Rumschlag, S. Janssen, G. Landburg, A. Shankar, W. Zijlmans, M. Lichtveld, and J. Wickliffe. Contrasting mercury contamination scenarios and site susceptibilities confound fish mercury burdens in Suriname, South America. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 336: 122447, (2023).

Mercury concentration, mercury stable isotope ratio, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio data as applicable for sediment, water, invertebrates, and fish collected from the St. Louis River Area of Concern (MN-WI) and the associated reference site, the lower Bad River (WI). This dataset is associated with the following publication: Janssen, S., J. Hoffman, R. Lepak, D. Krabbenhoft, D. Walters, C. Eagles-Smith, G. Peterson, J. Ogorek, J. DeWild, A. Cotter, M. Pearson, M. Tate, R. Yeardley, and M. Mills. Examining historical mercury sources in the St. Louis River estuary: How legacy contamination influences biological mercury levels in Great Lakes coastal regions. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, 779: 146284, (2021).

Primary and secondary consumers are important links in the trophic transfer of methylmercury, and their methylmercury concentrations are often measured to assess the potential risk of toxicity to higher trophic level consumers, including humans. A better understanding of the link between methylmercury production in sediments and methylmercury bioaccumulation in tidal marsh primary and secondary consumers will improve the design of contaminant monitoring, remediation, and restoration efforts, thereby protecting human and wildlife health. To advance this goal, we characterized spatial variation in sediment biogeochemistry and methylmercury concentrations of sediments, water, and consumer tissues at a meso-scale among marsh subhabitats. Methylmercury concentrations and stable isotope ratios were measured in 15 genera of tidal marsh primary and secondary consumers (Genera: Assiminea, Myostotella, Geukensia, Macoma, Traskorchestia, Bembidion, Pardosa, Palaemon, Hemigrapsus, Tridentiger, Acanthogobius, Gillichthys, Gambusia, Gasterosteus, and Cottus). Samples were collected in four subhabitats: marsh edges, marsh interiors, 1st order channels, and 3rd order channels during summer of 2006.

Samples were collected from Clear Lake, California from 2019-2022 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) California Water Science Center, the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC), the US Environmental Protection Agency, and EA Engineering Science and Technology Inc. to assess the extent and cycling of legacy mercury (Hg) contamination from Sulphur Bank Mine. Samples of waste rock, sediments, groundwater, and biological tissue (zooplankton, bluegill, smallmouth bass, Mississippi silversides, and largemouth bass) were analyzed for Hg stable isotopes by the U.S. Geological Survey Mercury Research Laboratory. Mercury concentrations for sediments, waste rocks, and groundwaters are included within this data release and information for biological Hg concentrations can be found in the companion data release (https://doi.org/10.5066/P96912PN).

Comma-separated values (.csv) file containing data related to mercury in fishes collected from Clear Lake, California.

Comma-separated values (.csv) file containing data related to amphibian sampling across the United States between 2016 and 2021. Data files contain mercury concentrations in amphibian and dragonfly tissues, mercury concentrations in sediment, as well as amphibian morphometrics, and habitat and climate characteristics where the samples were collected.