This photo shows Buck Creek, Idaho, one year after a wildfire burned the watershed. Buck Creek was one of 36 headwater streams in watersheds burned by wildfire that USGS scientists studied to determine mercury mobilization, methylation, and bioaccumulation in aquatic insects. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey)
Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey found wildfires are increasing mercury concentrations in Pacific Northwest headwater streams.
Mercury is a naturally occurring metal found in rocks and soil. But under the right conditions, it can be converted into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that accumulates in organisms such as fish and humans, said Boise-based USGS research hydrologist Austin Baldwin, who led the study.
Baldwin said the purpose of the study was to fill the gaps of previous studies .
“A lot of the studies of the effects of wildfires on mercury previously focused on maybe one specific watershed, or have looked at the effects in a downstream lake or reservoir, but there hasn’t been a lot of work done on headwater streams,” he told the Idaho Capital Sun.