Mercury tissue residue approach in Chironomus riparius: Involvement of toxicokinetics and comparison of subcellular fractionation methods.

•About 90% of the accumulated Hg in Chironomus riparius larvae was internalized in the cytosolic compartment.•Metallothionein-like proteins (MTLP) sequestered about a third of the Hg flux entering the cytosol.•The sensitive fraction (heat-sensitive proteins, HSP) progressively saturated leading to Hg excretion and physiological impairments.•For Hg subcellular fractionation, the size exclusion chromatography separation (SECS) method is recommended rather that the heat-treatment and centrifugation (HT&C) method.