Sources of water column methylmercury across multiple estuaries in the Northeast U.S

Marine Chemistry
Prentiss H BalcomCelia Y Chen

Abstract

Estuarine water column methylmercury (MeHg) is an important driver of mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation in pelagic organisms and thus it is necessary to understand the sources and processes affecting environmental levels of MeHg. Increases in water column MeHg concentrations can ultimately be transferred to fish consumed by humans, but despite this, the sources of MeHg to the estuarine water column are still poorly understood. Here we evaluate MeHg sources across 4 estuaries and 10 sampling sites and examine the distributions and partitioning of sediment and water column MeHg across a geographic range (Maine to New Jersey). Our study sites present a gradient in the concentrations of sediment, pore water and water column Hg species. Suspended particle MeHg ranged from below detection to 187 pmol g(-1), dissolved MeHg from 0.01 to 0.68 pM, and sediment MeHg from 0.01 to 109 pmol g(-1). Across multiple estuaries, dissolved MeHg correlated with Hg species in the water column, and sediment MeHg correlated with sediment total Hg (HgT). Water column MeHg did not correlate well with sediment Hg across estuaries, indicating that sediment concentrations were not a good predictor of water MeHg concentrations. This is an unexpected finding sinc...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 2, 2016·Environmental Science & Technology·Elena Gascón DíezAndrea G Bravo
Jun 20, 2017·The Science of the Total Environment·Rute CesárioJoão Canário
Mar 2, 2018·Environmental Science. Processes & Impacts·Nashaat M MazruiRobert P Mason
Jun 6, 2017·Journal of Marine Science and Engineering·Celia Y ChenNicholas S Fisher
Oct 4, 2017·Estuaries and Coasts : Journal of the Estuarine Research Federation·Kate BuckmanCelia Chen
Jul 14, 2017·Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Journal Canadien Des Sciences Halieutiques Et Aquatiques·Zofia BaumannHannes Baumann
Dec 29, 2020·Environmental Research·Kate L BuckmanCelia Y Chen
Nov 23, 2020·Environmental Pollution·Celia Y ChenCharles Driscoll
Jun 22, 2018·Environmental Science & Technology·Emily A SeelenRobert P Mason

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