Mercury distribution and methylmercury mobility in the sediments of three sites on the Lebanese coast, eastern Mediterranean

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Carine Abi-GhanemDaniel Cossa

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) contamination in coastal sediments has been widely studied in clay deposits; however, equivalent results on carbonated sediments are scarce. This article aims to study Hg distribution in Lebanese carbonate coastal marine sediments (Eastern Mediterranean) in order to characterize their contamination level and to explore the postdepositional mobility of methylmercury (MeHg) in the deposits. Vertical distribution profiles of total (HgT) and MeHg have been established for the solid phase of sediment cores collected in various near-shore environments chosen for their hypothetical various degrees of anthropization. In addition, dissolved MeHg was determined in sediment pore waters to test its mobility and potential availability for biota. Three sites on the Lebanese coasts--Akkar, Dora, and Selaata--were selected. Akkar is far from any direct contamination source, whereas Dora, located near the Beirut harbor, is a heavily urbanized and industrialized zone including a huge dump site, and Selaata is near a chemical plant that produces phosphate fertilizers. Particulate HgT concentrations in the sediments varied between <0.04 and 0.65 μg/g, with a proportion of MeHg lower than 1%. Based on a sediment quality guideline (MacD...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 11, 2012·Chemosphere·Sylvain RigaudMichel De Méo
Mar 4, 2014·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Parthasarathi ChakrabortyKartheek Chennuri
Nov 9, 2014·Environmental Monitoring and Assessment·Ley Juen LooiZailina Hashim
Aug 18, 2018·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Chih-Feng ChenCheng-Di Dong
Apr 14, 2017·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Ebru Yesim OzkanMert Turkdogan

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