High mercury levels in fish are one of the major environmental problems in Sweden. Mercury has many negative effects on human health with a specified limit found in the daughter directive (2008/105/EC). In accordance with the Water Management Act (SFS 2004:660), the chemical status of water bodies where mercury levels exceed limit values are deemed to be classified to have ‘poor status.' This study therefore aims to investigate possible links between water chemistry parameters and mercury levels in pike by collecting and compiling available data on mercury levels in fish. It also aims to find the relation between soil types in the lake's catchment area and the mercury concentration in pike. The study began with a literature review and a summary of results from previous studies with purpose of getting an understanding of results from previous studies as well as the laws and regulations related to mercury. Data concerning mercury levels in fish withinl 31lakes in Västmanland County, which were selected based on data availability. Comparisons were subsequently made between mercury levels in fish, the lake water’s chemistry and soil types in the area. Furthermore, the data collection showed that information about mercury levels in all lakes in the county of Västmanland is not complete and in many cases obsolete and no lakes in the county have mercury levels below the limit. That is, no lakes in the county are currently meeting the requirement and several lakes have concentrations of mercury in pike which exceed the limit for foodstuff. The statistical analysis of the chemical status showed a negative correlation between mercury concentration and alkalinity, and also a somewhat negative correlation between mercury concentration and pH levels which however was not significant. No effect of absorbance, oxygen, total carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were found. The statistical analysis of soil property in the lake basins shows a positive correlation between the percentage prescribed in the catchment area and the concentration of mercury in fish and a negative correlation between the percentage of open land in the catchment area and the concentration of mercury.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mdh-41525 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Hamidi, Helaleh |
| Publisher | Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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