Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 101

KYKSILVUR í FØROYUM - EIN GJØGNUMGONGD AV TØKUM DÁTUM
99
er and similar to Arctic hare in Qeqer-
tarssuaq, Greenland, where the mercury
concentration in 5 adults was 0,03 mg/kg
(Riget et ai, 2003). Also selenium concen-
trations were higher in the Faroese hares at
0,52 to 0,71 mg/kg ww (Olsen et al., 2003),
however with a smaller difference to the
same Norwegian samples where the con-
centration was 0,20 mg/kg Se in young and
0,48 mg/kg Se in adult hares, but more than
fíve times the concentration in the Green-
land hares.
Sheep
In the Faroe Islands, sheep, Ovis aries, have
been analysed for heavy metals and persis-
tent organic pollutants as part of the inter-
national AMAP program (Olsen et ai,
2003) and for heavy metals and dioxin for a
longer period, in industry-related monitor-
ing programs. Results from the industry-re-
lated monitoring programs have been made
available to the public in the “Føroya
Umhvørvi í tølum ” report series (Dam et
al., 1997; Gregersen et al., 2000; Mikkel-
sen et al., 2002).
Sheep and lamb liver and lamb meat
sampled from Vestmanna and Koltur in
1997 were analysed for Pb, Cd, Hg and Cu
(Larsen and Dam, 1999). In 1995/96 and
1999 samples of sheep and lamb liver from
4 stations each year, were analysed for Pb,
Cd and Hg (Mikkelsen et al., 2002). In
1997 and 1999 combined, mercury could
not be detected at 0,02 mg/kg in lamb meat
(n=8) and lamb liver (n=8 from six loca-
tions and n=17 from two) (Larsen and
Dam, 1999). For samples of sheep liver
these same years mercury could likewise
not be detected at 0,02 mg/kg at six stations
each represented by 8 liver samples. In the
1995/96 samples, the analyses were done
using an other detection limit, at 0,01
mg/kg, for liver samples of sheep and lamb
from two stations. Among these, mercury
was detected at 0,012 mg/kg in sheep and at
0,01 mg/kg for lamb from one single loca-
tion, the other samples that year were
analysed using the 0,02 mg/kg detection
limit, and mercury could not be detected.
The Marine Environment
Analysis of the sea- and seabed
In the fjords
To date, the broadest investigation of the
metal concentrations in a Faroese fjord
ecosystem was the investigation of the
Skálafjord described in “Skálafjarðarkan-
ningin” (Heilsufrøðiliga starvsstovan
1992). Sediments were collected from 5 lo-
cations in the fjord and the top-most 20 cm
analysed for lead, cadmium, nickel, copper,
zinc, mercury and iron. The results from
the analysis of the uppermost 5 cm of the
sediments are shown in Table 6 as means
for the fjord, and as individual location re-
sults in Table 7.
In 1997, sediments were collected from
Skálafjord, Kollafjord, Kaldbaksfjord, and
the sound Sundalagnum - both north and
south of the bridge, and Funningsfjord, see
Fig. 5. The sediments were analysed for a
series of metals. Some of the results are
shown in Table 6 with an average value rep-
resenting all the fjords. The results from the
individual analysis of mercury are given in
Table 7, with concentrations in the range
0,02 to 0,14 mg/kg dw.