Public Concerns over Presumed Metal and Radionuclide Pollution: Testing a Possible Link to Ovine Hepatic Melanosis in South Greenland

Public Concerns over Presumed Metal and Radionuclide Pollution: Testing a Possible Link to Ovine Hepatic Melanosis in South Greenland | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Public Concerns over Presumed Metal and Radionuclide Pollution: Testing a Possible Link to Ovine Hepatic Melanosis in South Greenland Violeta Hansen, Ole Lerberg Nielsen, Anders Mosbech, Sandra Drewes Fabricius, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8010522/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In South Greenland, public concerns have linked "black livers" in sheep to presumed environmental pollution from the Kvanefjeld mining exploration project. Elevated concentrations of metals and radionuclides in the area reflect natural geochemistry and weathering processes, not pollution from exploration activities. However, in response, we conducted a preliminary case-control study to diagnose the condition, investigate links between liver discoloration and environmental concentrations of metals and radionuclides, and to estimate the annual effective dose to the public from polonium-210 (210Po) ingestion via sheep and lamb liver consumption. We also evaluated the prevalence of acquired melanosis, grazing and herd effects, and their association with carcass quality and disease markers. Histological analysis confirmed acquired melanosis in affected liver samples. No statistically significant differences in concentrations of chemical elements or radionuclides (including ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb) were found between case and control groups, across age groups, grazing areas, or farms. Except for the most exposed children (10% percentile), the estimated annual effective dose to adults and children from 210Po ingestion in black and healthy livers remained below the world average of 120 µSv due to the ingestion of naturally occurring radionuclides. The overall prevalence of ovine acquired melanosis based on a large sample size was 10.59%, with herd prevalence ranging from 0% to 51.79%. Age-specific prevalence was 10.38% in lambs and 13.40% in adult sheep. Acquired melanosis was negatively correlated with fat and muscle content in carcasses. Acquired melanosis in sheep from South Greenland does not pose a health risk to humans through liver consumption. Arctic hepatic lipofuscinosis black livers heavy metals naturally occurring radionuclides prevalence Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Table 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table2.docx Table2S.SerumBiochemistryResultsSupplementaryMaterial.xlsx ICPMSrawdataSupplementaryMaterial.xlsx Graphicalabstract.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 06 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 06 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8010522","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":546445143,"identity":"98e8da98-c78f-4bf8-b4a1-0a244184d88e","order_by":0,"name":"Violeta 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Greenland","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-monitoring-and-assessment","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"emas","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Monitoring and Assessment](http://link.springer.com/journal/10661)","snPcode":"10661","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10661/3","title":"Environmental Monitoring and 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Elevated concentrations of metals and radionuclides in the area reflect natural geochemistry and weathering processes, not pollution from exploration activities. However, in response, we conducted a preliminary case-control study to diagnose the condition, investigate links between liver discoloration and environmental concentrations of metals and radionuclides, and to estimate the annual effective dose to the public from polonium-210 (210Po) ingestion via sheep and lamb liver consumption. We also evaluated the prevalence of acquired melanosis, grazing and herd effects, and their association with carcass quality and disease markers. Histological analysis confirmed acquired melanosis in affected liver samples. No statistically significant differences in concentrations of chemical elements or radionuclides (including ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb) were found between case and control groups, across age groups, grazing areas, or farms. Except for the most exposed children (10% percentile), the estimated annual effective dose to adults and children from 210Po ingestion in black and healthy livers remained below the world average of 120 µSv due to the ingestion of naturally occurring radionuclides. The overall prevalence of ovine acquired melanosis based on a large sample size was 10.59%, with herd prevalence ranging from 0% to 51.79%. Age-specific prevalence was 10.38% in lambs and 13.40% in adult sheep. Acquired melanosis was negatively correlated with fat and muscle content in carcasses. Acquired melanosis in sheep from South Greenland does not pose a health risk to humans through liver consumption.","manuscriptTitle":"Public Concerns over Presumed Metal and Radionuclide Pollution: Testing a Possible Link to Ovine Hepatic Melanosis in South Greenland","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-18 07:20:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8010522/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-11-29T14:40:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-28T18:20:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"102193893176054353005167446388410713588","date":"2025-11-23T10:38:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-21T08:37:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"86462976090872832352175871426974162869","date":"2025-11-14T08:30:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-11-07T15:49:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-11-06T10:45:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-11-06T10:43:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Monitoring and Assessment","date":"2025-11-02T11:00:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-monitoring-and-assessment","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"emas","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Monitoring and Assessment](http://link.springer.com/journal/10661)","snPcode":"10661","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10661/3","title":"Environmental Monitoring and Assessment","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c2db80d5-3cf0-4257-ba45-0435d09b6ddf","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-26T16:05:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8010522","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-025-14945-z","journal":{"identity":"environmental-monitoring-and-assessment","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Environmental Monitoring and Assessment"},"publishedOn":"2026-01-22 15:58:41","publishedOnDateReadable":"January 22nd, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-18 07:20:25","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10661-025-14945-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-025-14945-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8010522","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8010522","identity":"rs-8010522","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}