Mercury in sediments

Syers, J.K. Iskandar, I.K. Keeney, D.R. Distribution and Background Levels of Mercury in Sediment Cores from Selected Wisconsin Lakes. Water Air Soil Pollut. 1973 2, 105-118. 

Lindestroem L. 2001. Mercury in sediment and fish communities of Lake Vaenem, Sweden recovery from contamination. Ambio 30 538-544. 

Bishop CA, Koster MD, Chek AA, HusseU DJT, Jock K. 1995a. Chlorinated hydrocarbons and mercury in sediments, red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus) and tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) from wetlands in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin. Environ Toxicol Chem 14 491-501. 

Beauvais, S.L., J.G. Wiener, and G.J. Atchison. 1995. Cadmium and mercury in sediment and burrowing mayfly nymphs (Hexagenia) in the upper Mississippi River, USA. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 28 178-183. 

Berman, M. and R. Bartha. 1986. Levels of chemical versus biological methylation of mercury in sediments. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 36 401-404. 

In their proposed method, contamination only from the ammoniacal glutathione solution is expected. However, any inorganic mercury in this solution will be adsorbed on the glass container walls with a half-life about 2d, i.e. the blank value becomes zero if the solution is left to stand for more than a week. This method for mercury in sediments does not distinguish between the different forms of organomercury. Results are calculated as methylmercury. 

Quevauviller, Ph., Fortunati, G.U., Filippelli, M. and Muntau, H. (1997a) The certification of the contents of total and methyl mercury in sediment (CRM 580). EUR Report, European Commission, Brussels, EN 17658. 

The most notorious mercury compounds in the environment are monomethyl mercury (CH3Hg+) salts and dimethylmercury ((CH3)2Hg). The latter compound is both soluble and volatile, and the salts of the monomethylmercury cation are soluble. These compounds are produced from inorganic mercury in sediments by anaerobic bacteria through the action of methylcobalamin, a vitamin B12 analog and intermediate in the synthesis of methane ... 

Bloom N.S., Preuss, E., Katon, J., and Hiltner, M. (2003) Selective extractions to assess the biogeochemically relevant fractionation of inorganic mercury in sediments and soils. Anal. Chim. Acta 479, 233-248. 

Gobeil C. and Cossa D. (1993) Mercury in sediments and sediment pore water in the Laurentian Trough. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 50, 1794-1800. 

In order to understand the full extent of the mercury problem in these times, one has only to consider the enormous loss rates. From the total of 2865 tons of mercury purchased in the U.S. in 1968, 76% or 2160 tons were lost to the environment. According to calculations of Kemp et al. (1974), the Lake Ontario reservoir contained a mass of 500 to 600 metric tons of "excess" mercury, i.e. discharged from anthropogenic sources. With the improvements in the methods of chlor-alkali electrolysis and by subsequent purification of waste streams the mercury loss has been reduced from 100 g per metric ton of manufactured chlorine to approx. 2 g per ton or less (Anon., 1973). The effect of these measures can be seen from concentration profiles of mercury in sediment cores taken off the mouth of Niagara River by Mudroch (1983), where a very distinct decrease from formerly approx. 4-7 ug Hg/g to less than lug Hg/g in recent years has occurred (Figure 2-6). 

Figure 2-6 Concentration Profiles of Mercury in Sediment Cores from the Western Basin of Lake Ontario (Mudroch, 1983)...

Garcia-Rico L, Valenzuela-Rodriguez M, Jrua-Marini ME (2006) Geochemistry of mercury in sediments of oyster areas in Sonora, Mexico. Mar Pollut Bull 52 453-458 Garcia-Rico L, Tejeda-Valenzuela L, Burgos-Hemandez A (2010) Seasonal variations in the concentrations of metals in Cmssostrea corteziensis from Sonora, Mexico. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 85 209-213... 

Kot FS, Green-Ruiz C, Paez-Osuna F, ShumiUn E, Rodriguez-Meza D (1999) Distribution of mercury in sediments from La Paz lagoon, peninsula of Baja CaUfomia, Mexico. BuU Environ Contam Toxicol 63 45-51... 

Yan, H., Feng, X., Shang, L., Qiu, G., Dai, Q., Wang, S. Hou, Y. (2008) The variations of mercury in sediment profiles from a historically merctny-contaminaled reservoir. Guizhou province, China. Science of the Total Environment, 407,497-506. 

Jernelov, A., Wennergren, G., Studies of Concentrations of Methyl Mercury in Sediments from the St. Clair System and Rate of Biological Methylation in Incubated Samples of Sediments, Inst. Vatten Luftv rdsforsk. Publ. B IVL 531 [1980]. 

Tao, G.H., Fujikawa, Y., Mitsui, M., and Yamada, R. (2002) Determination of mercury in sediment samples by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 17, 560-2. 

Methylmercury accounts for circa 0,1 to 1,5% of the total mercury in sediments, and around 2% of the total in sea water, but in fish it accounts for over 80% of total mercury. It is not clear, however, if the CH3Hg is taken in by the fish fi om sea water or formed within the fish. Evidence suggests the former, though in rotting fish (CH3)2Hg is formed. The changing chemistry of mercury, as pointed out by Renuka (27) is always a point of concern among those who study mercury. 

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