Mercury Concentrations in Alberta Fish from 1997 to 2023

Mercury monitoring data measures total mercury concentration in individual fish samples from Albertan water bodies. The dataset, collected by Alberta Environment and Parks and analyzed by Alberta Health, spans from 1997 to 2023 and supports public health advisories and environmental research.

Use Cases

• Analyze mercury concentration trends over the 1997-2023 time range by fish species and location.
• Model mercury concentration accumulation across different fish species to inform consumption guidelines.
• Assess spatial patterns of mercury concentration in fish from Albertan rivers and lakes.
• Correlate mercury concentration data with local fish consumption advisories for public health reporting.

Strengths

• Long-term temporal coverage spanning 26 years from 1997 to 2023.
• Data supports official public health outputs like Alberta Health Mercury in Fish reports and consumption advisories.
• Collection and analysis conducted by provincial government agencies Alberta Environment and Parks and Alberta Health.

Limitations

• Specific sample size (row count) and measured features (column count) are unknown from the provided input.
• Data is limited to total mercury concentration, not differentiating between mercury forms like methylmercury.
• Geographic scope is restricted to water bodies within Alberta, Canada.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta, specifically Alberta Environment and Parks and Alberta Health.

Collection Method

Fish collected by Alberta Environment and Parks, with chemical analysis and quality control by Alberta Health.

Time Range

1997 to 2023.

Freshness

Data includes records up to 2023, with metadata last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Albertan water bodies (e.g., rivers and lakes), Canada.