Mercury Pollution in The Arctic Has Reached Toxic Levels

Published at: Jun 16 2025 - 12:07 / Updated at: Jun 16 2025 - 12:09

Human activities have caused large-scale mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic reaching toxic levels, but knowledge of sources and pathways is sparse.

The findings of a study in Nature show that ocean currents carrying large inventories of legacy mercury may be the dominant pathway driving present mercury uptake in the Arctic.

Mercury (Hg) is among the most toxic heavy metals and its occurrence in the Arctic environment has increased markedly since pre-industrial times.

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