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. 1975 Jan;3(3):279-87.
doi: 10.1016/0048-9697(75)90052-2.

Mercury and selenium in marine mammals and birds

J H Koeman, W S van de Ven, J J de Goeij, P S Tjioe, J L van Haaften

Mercury and selenium in marine mammals and birds

J H Koeman et al. Sci Total Environ. 1975 Jan.

Abstract

Information is provided concerning the concentrations of mercury and selenium in tissues of marine animals. In marine mammals a 1:1 Hg/Se molecular increment ratio was found and an almost perfect linear correlation between mercury and selenium. It is suggested that marine mammals are able to detoxify methylmercury by a specific chemical mechanism in which selenium is involved. The results also indicate that the fate of methylmercury in fish-eating marine birds differs fundamentally from that in marine mammals.

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