Elevated mercury levels found in lake

State officials who are conducting a study of selenium levels in the Great Salt Lake would like more funding to check for mercury in brine shrimp and waterfowl.

Diane Nielson, the Department of Environmental Quality's executive director, said mercury in the lake's south arm is at the highest level measured by the U.S. Geological Survey in any body of water tested in the United States. The levels were confirmed by sampling carried out by Kennecott. The highest levels were in the deep brine layer, she said Wednesday at a meeting of the Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee.

The nature and extent of the mercury in the lake should be examined, with cost estimated at $1.5 million, according to information Nielson supplied.

Mercury in large bodies of water is not necessarily harmful. It is dangerous when changed by biological activity and concentrated in organisms, becoming a toxic contaminant. It tends to concentrate as it moves up the food chain, so large fish are more likely to have high levels.

Jeff Salt, Great Salt Lakekeeper in the Lakekeeper organization, said in a sheet given to the Deseret Morning News that biological samples showed adult brine shrimp and eared grebes were very high in toxic methylmercury. He added that adult brine shrimp were tested, not the eggs that are harvested.

"Adult brine shrimp feed on algae and bacteria that uptake and concentrate methylmercury from the salt water, and then the eared grebes feed on the brine shrimp," says the sheet.

A question raised by Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, during the interim meeting concerned whether mercury in the lake could affect prawns. In some aquaculture farms, these edible shrimp are fed brine shrimp from the Great Salt Lake.

The brine shrimp harvest gathers the tiny animals' eggs. The eggs can remain viable for months when dried. Brine shrimp hatch from the eggs when the eggs are put into water.

Nielson told the Deseret Morning News Thursday that a USGS fact sheet discusses mercury content in brine shrimp and eared grebes. Total mercury levels and total methylmercury levels appear elevated but further study is warranted, she said.

"What we are doing right now on the lake as part of the Great Salt Lake Selenium Study, is looking at selenium concentrations related to brine shrimp," she said. Selenium is a substance known to harm waterfowl in high enough concentrations. The study involves brine shrimp larvae.