SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y., October 26, 2009 –The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and Stony Brook Southampton will present a lecture on the accumulation of metals and its diverse effects in our ocean.
“Bioaccumulation of Toxic Metals in Marine Organisms and Associated Risks” with Dr. Nicholas Fisher, Distinguished Professor and Director of a Consortium for Inter-disciplinary Environmental Research, will take place on Friday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Duke Lecture Hall. A reception will follow. For further information, call 631-632-5046. The event is free and open to the public.
Metals can serve as nutrients for marine organisms (e.g. iron), they can be toxic (e.g. mercury), or they can be both (e.g. copper). The extent to which a metal can cause an effect on an organism depends on the extent to which it is taken up and retained by the organism, either through its diet or from the surrounding water. Dr. Fisher will discuss patterns of metal uptake and toxicity which different classes of metals display in marine ecosystems and will also consider which organisms’ influence the fate of metals that enter the ocean. The bioaccumulation of diverse metals, including radioactive metals, which enter the ocean through man’s activities and their transfer from one trophic level to another (including humans as consumers of seafood) will be presented.
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