2026 Ecosystem Transformation 9 (4), 3-13

First data on mercury content in the body of the Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica manchurica Brass, 1911) in the south of Khabarovsk Territory

Khomchenko O.S. 

The mercury content in the organs and tissues of the Siberian weasel from the southern districts of Khabarovsk Territory was studied for the first time. The specimens examined were individuals that died accidentally in the winter of 2023–2024 after being caught in traps on private farmsteads located adjacent to the forest. Mercury was determined by Zeeman atomic absorption spectrometry.
The highest mercury concentrations were found in the kidneys (1.4 mg/kg) and fur (2.6 mg/kg) of the animals. The mercury concentrations in the tissues and organs of the Siberian weasel decreased in the following order: fur > kidneys > liver > muscle > heart > spleen > lungs. It is suggested that seasonal molting plays a significant role in clearing mercury from the body through its deposition in the fur.

O. S. Khomchenko
Institute of Water and Ecological Problems, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences – a separate division of the Khabarovsk Federal Research Center, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Dikopoltsev St. 56, Khabarovsk, 680000 Russia

homchenko.ru@mail.ru

Bilandžić, N., Dežđek, D., Sedak, M., Ðokić, M., Šimić, B. et al., 2012. Trace elements in tissues of wild carnivores and omnivores in Croatia. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 88, 94–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0449-y
Dietz, R., Wilson, S., Loseto, L.L., Dommergue, A., Xie, Z., Sonne, C., Chételat, J., 2022. Special issue on the AMAP 2021 assessment of mercury in the Arctic. Science of the Total Environment 843, 157020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157020
Eccles, K.M., Thomas, P.J., Chan, H.M., 2017. Predictive meta-regressions relating mercury tissue concentrations of freshwater piscivorous mammals. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 36 (9), 2377–2384. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3775
Geptner, V.G., Naumov, N.P., Yurgenson, P.B., Sludskii, A.A., Chirkova, A.F., Bannikov, A.G., 1967.
Kolonok [Weasel]. In: Geptner, V.G., Naumov, N.P. (ed.), Mlekopitayushchie Sovetskogo Soyuza. T. 2, ch. 1. Morskie korovy i hishchnye [Mammals of the Soviet Union. V. 2, p. 1. Sea cows and
predators]. Vysshaya shkola, Moscow, USSR, 700–718. (In Russian).
Hallanger, I.G., Fuglei, E., Yoccoz, N.G., Pedersen, Å.Ø., König, M., Routti, H., 2019. Temporal trend of mercury in relation to feeding habits and food availability in arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) from Svalbard, Norway. Science of the Total Environment 670, 1125–1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.239
Hyvärinen, H., Tyni, P., Nieminen, P., 2003. Effects of moult, age, and sex on the accumulation of heavy metals in the otter (Lutra lutra) in Finland. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 70, 278–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-002-0188-1
Kalisinska, E., Lisowski, P., Kosik-Bogacka, D.I., 2012. Red fox Vulpes vulpes (L., 1758) as a bioindicator of mercury comtamination in terrestrial ecooosystems of North-Western Poland.
Biological Trace Element Research 145, 172–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9181-z
Khomchenko, O.S., 2024. O soderzhanii rtuti v nekotoryh vidah ryb reki Amur [On the mercury content in some fish species of the Amur River]. Regional'nye problemy [Regional Problems] 27 (3), 25–27. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.31433/2618-9593-2024-27-3-25-27
Katola, V.M., Radomskaya, V.I., Radomskii, S.M., 2008. Zagryaznenie rtut'yu i soputstvuyushchimi elementami verhnego Priamur'ya [Pollution of the Upper Amur Region with mercury and associated elements]. Ekologiya i promyshlennost' Rossii [Ecology and Industry of Russia] 5, 51–53. (In Russian).
Komov, V.T., Stepina, E.S., Gremyachih,V.A., Poddubnaya, N.YA., Borisov, M.Ya., 2012. Soderzhanie rtuti v organah mlekopitayushchih semeistva kun'ih (Mustelidae) Vologodskoi oblasti [Mercury content in the organs of mammals of the mustelid family (Mustelidae) of the Vologda region]. Povolzhskii ekologicheskii zhurnal [Volga Region Ecological Journal] 4, 385–393. (In Russian).
Kot, F.S., 1993. Ocenka urovnei soderzhaniya tyazhelyh metallov v ihtiofaune Nizhnego Amura [Assessment of heavy metal levels in the ichthyofauna of the Lower Amur]. In: Ivashov, P.V. (ed.). Biogeohimicheskaya ekspertiza sostoyaniya okruzhayushchei sredy [Biogeochemical assessment of the state of the environment]. Dal'nauka, Vladivostok, Russia, 100–106. (In Russian).
Krupskaya, L.T., Leonenko, A.V., Filatova, M.Yu., 2024. Problemy rtutnogo zagryazneniya v granicah vliyaniya likvidirovannogo gornogo predpriyatiya rossypnoi zolotodobychi v Priamur'e kak klyuchevoi faktor ustoichivogo razvitiya raiona [Problems of mercury pollution within the boundaries of influence of the liquidated placer gold mining enterprise in the Amur region as a key factor in the sustainable development of the region]. Materialy VII regional'noi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferencii «Intellektual'naya sobstvennost' v innovacionnom razvitii regiona» [Proceedings of the VII regional scientific and practical conference “Intellectual property in innovative development of the region”].
Khabarovsk, Russia, 65–73. (In Russian).
Ljungvall, K., Magnusson, U., Korvela, M., Norrby, M., Bergquist, J., Persson, S., 2017. Heavy metal concentrations in female wild mink (Neovison vison) in Sweden: sources of variation and associations with internal organ weights. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 36 (8), 2030–2035. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3717
Lodenius, M., Skarén, U., Hellstedt, P., Tulisalo, E., 2014. Mercury in various tissues of three mustelid species and other trace metals in liver of European otter from Eastern Finland. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 186, 325–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3376-z
Nikitina, I.A., 2013. Indikaciya ekologicheskogo sostoyaniya ekosistem vodno-bolotnyh ugodii "Bolon'" po soderzhaniyu elementov v rybah [Indication of the ecological state of the "Bologna" wetland ecosystems based on the content of elements in fish]. Materialy X Dal'nevostochnoi konferencii po zapovednomu delu [Proceedings of the X Far Eastern Conference on Nature Reserves]. Blagoveshchensk, Russia, 235–238. (In Russian).
Nriagu, J., Becker, C., 2003. Volcanic emissions of mercury to the atmosphere: global and regional inventories. The Science of the Total Environment 304, 3–12.
Pavithra, K.G., Rajan, P.S., Kumar, P.S., Rangasamy, G., 2023. Mercury sources, contaminations, mercury cycle, detection and treatment techniques: A review. Chemosphere 312, 137314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137314
Petkovšek, S.Al S., Kopušar, N., Kryštufek, B., 2014. Small mammals as biomonitors of metal pollution: a case study in Slovenia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 186, 4261–4274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3696-7
Qi, J., Wang, Y., Liang, S., Li, Y., Li, Y. et al., 2019. Primary suppliers driving atmospheric mercury emissions through global supply chains. One Earth 1, 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2019.10.005
Sen'kevich, O.A., Koval'skii, Yu.G., Chebargina, M.A., 2023. Monitoring fonovogo soderzhaniya rtuti v biosisteme i organizme detskogo naseleniya nizhnego techeniya reki Amur [Monitoring background mercury content in the biosystem and body of the child population of the lower reaches of the Amur River]. Vestnik Severo-Vostochnogo federal'nogo universiteta im. M.K. Ammosova. Seriya: Medicinskie nauki [Bulletin of the North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov.
Series: Medical Sciences] 2 (31), 31–41. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.25587/SVFU.2023.31.2.004
Tkachenko, K.N., 1997. Osobennosti pitaniya sobolya i kolonka v Bol'shekhekhcirskom zapovednike [Features of the diet of sable and siberian weasel in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve]. Tezisy dokladov III Dal'nevostochnoi konferenciya po zapovednomu delu [Abstracts of the III Far Eastern Conference on Nature Reserves]. Dal'nauka, Vladivostok, Russia, 117. (In Russian).
Tselykh, E.D., Akhtyamov, M.H., Poleshchuk, A.E., 2022. Balans mikroelementov v cepi "voda – pochva – rasteniya – zhivotnye – chelovek" v urboekosisteme g. Amurska Habarovskogo kraya v usloviyah tekhnogennogo zagryazneniya rtut'yu [Balance of microelements in the chain "water – soil – plants – animals – humans" in the urban ecosystem of the city of Amursk, Khabarovsk Krai, under conditions of man-made mercury pollution]. Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology 7 (2), 9–24. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.21685/2500-0578-2022-2-2
Wang, W., Evans, R.D., Hickie, B.E., Rouvinen-Watt, K., Evans, H.E., 2014. Methylmercury accumulation and elimination in mink (Neovison vison) hair and blood: Results of a controlled feeding experiment using stable isotope tracers. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33 (12), 2873–2880. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.2762