A Meta-analysis Reveals Global Change Stressors Potentially Aggravate Mercury Toxicity in Marine Biota

Growing evidence demonstrates that global change can modulate mercury (Hg) toxicity in marine organisms; however, the consensus on such effect is lacking. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of global change stressors on Hg biotoxicity according to the IPCC projections (RCP 8.5) for 2100, including ocean acidification (-0.4 units), warming (+4 degrees C), and their combination (acidification-warming). The results indicated an overall aggravating effect (ln RR Delta = -0.219) of global change on Hg toxicity in marine organisms, while the effect varied with different stressors; namely, acidification potentially alleviates Hg biotoxicity (ln RR Delta = 0.117) while warming and acidification-warming have an aggravating effect (ln RR Delta = -0.328 and -0.097, respectively). Moreover, warming increases Hg toxicity in different trophic levels, i.e., primary producers (ln RR Delta = -0.198) < herbivores (ln RR Delta = -0.320) < carnivores (ln RR Delta = -0.379), implying increasing trends of Hg biomagnification through the food web. Notably, ocean hypoxia appears to boost Hg biotoxicity, although it was not considered in our meta-analysis because of the small sample size. Given the persistent global change and combined effects of these stressors in marine environments, multigeneration and multistressor research is urgently needed to fully disclose the impacts of global change on Hg pollution and its risk.