Mercury (Hg) in the Arctic Ocean is a concern due to unusually high concentrations of monomethylmercury (MMHg) in fish and marine animals. Increased human exposure from consumption of these animals is a significant health concern that is related to Hg contamination in nature. Most Arctic marine Hg research has investigated the amounts, distributions, and cycling in animals, snow, and ice, while few studies have examined the aqueous behavior and fate of Hg in the polar ocean. Here we present the most comprehensive dataset published to date detailing Hg speciation and distribution of elemental Hg (Hg⁰), dimethylmercury (DMHg), and filtered and particulate total Hg and MMHg in the western Arctic Ocean. This data was obtained as part of the U.S. Arctic GEOTRACES cruise (GN01) in 2015. Many water masses sampled appeared to be enriched with anthropogenic Hg. The Transpolar Drift supplied HgT and Hg⁰ to the central Arctic Ocean, but not methylated Hg. Gaseous Hg⁰, but not DMHg, was elevated in surface waters under the ice cover. Monomethylmercury levels, which averaged 0.054 ± 0.050 pM, are lower than other major ocean basins, suggesting ambient MMHg levels in western Arctic Ocean seawater do not by themselves explain anomalously high Hg in Arctic animals.

由于鱼类和海洋动物中单甲基汞（MMHg）的浓度异常高，北冰洋中的汞（Hg）令人担忧。食用这些动物会增加人体暴露，这是对健康的重大关注，与自然界中的Hg污染有关。大多数北极海洋汞研究都研究了动物，雪和冰中汞的含量，分布和循环，而很少有研究研究极地海洋中汞的水相行为和命运。在这里，我们展示了迄今为止发布的最全面的数据集，详细介绍了汞的形态和元素汞的分布（汞⁰），二甲基汞（DMHg）以及北冰洋西部的过滤后的总Hg和MMHg颗粒。该数据是2015年美国北极GEOTRACES巡洋舰（GN01）的一部分。许多采样的水团似乎富含人为汞。跨极漂移向北冰洋中部提供了HgT和Hg ⁰，但没有甲基化的Hg。在冰盖下的地表水中，气态的Hg ⁰而不是DMHg升高。一甲基汞的平均水平为0.054±0.050 pM，低于其他主要海盆，表明北冰洋西部海水中的环境MMHg水平本身不能解释北极动物体内异常高的Hg含量。