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Abstract

Within this decade, measurements have revealed low (picomolar, pM), but still relatively elevated, concentrations of dissolved (<0.45 µm) silver in some aquatic environments. This is due to the extremely low (≤1 pM ≈ 0.1 parts per trillion) concentrations of silver in remote oceanic surface waters and a small freshwater lake compared to the relatively high concentrations (≥300 pM) of silver in some embayments, estuaries, and fresh waters. The relatively high silver concentrations commonly correspond with elevated concentrations of silver in sediments and aquatic organisms in those water bodies. These, in turn, often have received relatively large anthropogenic inputs of industrial silver.

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Flegal, A.R., Rivera-Duarte, I., Sañudo-Wilhelmy, S.A. (1997). Silver Contamination in Aquatic Environments. In: Ware, G.W., Nigg, H.N., Bevenue, A. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 148. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2264-4_3

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