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Cugler de Pontes G, Vicente MDC, Kasper D, Machado WT, Wasserman JC. Spatial distribution of total mercury and methylmercury in the sediment of a tropical coastal environment subjected to heavy urban inputs. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 312:137067. [PMID: 36397303 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Jurujuba Cove is located in Guanabara Bay (adjacent to highly populated city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), which receives diffuse sources of contaminants along with two main freshwater inputs (the Cachoeira and Icaraí rivers), and hosts mussel farms. The main goal of this work was to evaluate the total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations distributions in the sediments of the cove and their associations with physical and chemical parameters, thereby assessing their geochemical behavior. Twenty samples of surface sediments were collected and characterized for grain size, pH, redox potential, organic carbon, total phosphorus, THg and MeHg. Spatial distribution maps were produced for each parameter and a principal components analysis was carried out, to assess THg and MeHg behavior and their relationships with other parameters. The principal components analysis showed that grain size functions as the main diluting agent. The highest THg concentrations were observed in the mussel-farm area (656.1 ng g-1), and were related to fine grain size and elevated organic carbon values. High MeHg concentrations also occurred in the center of the cove, probably favored by high organic carbon content (low-energy environment). Total phosphorus concentrations indicate that Cachoeira River is a possible source of sewage, but little mercury seems to come from it. The results showed that although total mercury concentrations are elevated, with exception of a few locations, small methylmercury convertion rates were recorded in the sediments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Cugler de Pontes
- Post-Graduation Program in Geochemistry, University Federal Fluminense, Outeiro São João Baptista s/n - Centro - Niterói, RJ. CEP, 24020-141. Brazil.
| | - Murilo de Carvalho Vicente
- Post-Graduation Program in Geochemistry, University Federal Fluminense, Outeiro São João Baptista s/n - Centro - Niterói, RJ. CEP, 24020-141. Brazil.
| | - Daniele Kasper
- Laboratory of Tracers Applied to Environmental Science Wolfgang Christian Pfeiffer; Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, University Federal of Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Bloco G - Cidade Universitária - Ilha do Fundão, CEP: 21941-902, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil.
| | - Wilson Thadeu Machado
- Post-Graduation Program in Geochemistry, University Federal Fluminense, Outeiro São João Baptista s/n - Centro - Niterói, RJ. CEP, 24020-141. Brazil.
| | - Julio Cesar Wasserman
- Post-Graduation Program in Geochemistry, University Federal Fluminense, Outeiro São João Baptista s/n - Centro - Niterói, RJ. CEP, 24020-141. Brazil.
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Gfeller L, Caplette JN, Frossard A, Mestrot A. Organo-mercury species in a polluted agricultural flood plain: Combining speciation methods and polymerase chain reaction to investigate pathways of contamination. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 311:119854. [PMID: 35998774 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The analysis of organic mercury (Hg) species in polluted soils is a necessary tool to assess the environmental risk(s) of mercury in contaminated legacy sites. The artificial formation of monomethylmercury (MeHg) during soil extraction and/or analysis is a well-known limitation and is especially relevant in highly polluted areas where MeHg/Hg ratios are notoriously low. Although this has been known for almost 30 years, the thorough characterisation of artificial formation rates is rarely a part of the method development in scientific literature. Here we present the application of two separate procedures (inorganic Hg (iHg) spiking and double-spike isotope dilution analyses (DSIDA)) to determine and correct for artificial Hg methylation in MeHg-selective acid-leaching/organic solvent extraction procedure. Subsequently, we combined corrected MeHg and ethylmercury (EtHg) measurements with PCR amplification of hgcA genes to distinguish between naturally formed MeHg from primary deposited MeHg in soils from a legacy site in a Swiss mountain valley. We found the DSIDA procedure incompatible with the organomercury selective extraction method due to the quantitative removal of iHg. Methylation factors from iHg spiking were in the range of (0.0075 ± 0.0001%) and were consistent across soils and sediment matrices. Further, we suggest that MeHg was deposited and not formed in-situ in two out of three studied locations. Our line of evidence consists of 1) the concomitant detection of EtHg, 2) the elevated MeHg concentrations (up to 4.84 μg kg-1), and 3) the absence of hgcA genes at these locations. The combination of Hg speciation and methylation gene (hgcA) abundance analyses are tools suited to assess Hg pollution pathways at Hg legacy sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenz Gfeller
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jaime N Caplette
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Aline Frossard
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Adrien Mestrot
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
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Faßbender S, von der Au M, Koenig M, Pelzer J, Piechotta C, Vogl J, Meermann B. Species-specific isotope dilution analysis of monomethylmercury in sediment using GC/ICP-ToF-MS and comparison with ICP-Q-MS and ICP-SF-MS. Anal Bioanal Chem 2021; 413:5279-5289. [PMID: 34302182 PMCID: PMC8405517 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-021-03497-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
A recently introduced inductively coupled plasma-time-of-flight-mass spectrometer (ICP-ToF-MS) shows enhanced sensitivity compared to previous developments and superior isotope ratio precision compared to other ToF and commonly used single-collector ICP-MS instruments. Following this fact, an improvement for isotope dilution ICP-MS using the new instrumentation has been reported. This study aimed at investigating whether this improvement also meets the requirements of species-specific isotope dilution using GC/ICP-MS, where short transient signals are recorded. The results of the analysis of monomethylmercury (MMHg) of a sediment reference material show that isotope ratio precision of ICP-MS instruments equipped with quadrupole, sector-field, and time-of-flight mass analyzers is similar within a broad range of peak signal-to-noise ratio when analyzing one isotopic system. The procedural limit of quantification (LOQ) for MMHg, expressed as mass fraction of Hg being present as MMHg, w(Hg)MMHg, was similar as well for all investigated instruments and ranged between 0.003 and 0.016 μg/kg. Due to the simultaneous detection capability, the ICP-ToF-MS might, however, be more favorable when several isotopic systems are analyzed within one measurement. In a case study, the GC/ICP-ToF-MS coupling was applied for analysis of MMHg in sediments of Finow Canal, a historic German canal heavily polluted with mercury. Mass fractions between 0.180 and 41 μg/kg (w(Hg)MMHg) for MMHg, and 0.056 and 126 mg/kg (w(Hg)total) for total mercury were found in sediment samples taken from the canal upstream and downstream of a former chemical plant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Faßbender
- Division 1.1 - Inorganic Trace Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marcus von der Au
- Division 1.1 - Inorganic Trace Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maren Koenig
- Division 1.1 - Inorganic Trace Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Christian Piechotta
- Division 1.8 - Environmental Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jochen Vogl
- Division 1.1 - Inorganic Trace Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Björn Meermann
- Division 1.1 - Inorganic Trace Analysis, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany.
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Xue S, Xie Z, Chu Y, Yue Y, Shi W, Zhou J. Synthesis of Sulfonylhydrazone Type Probe with High Selectivity for Rapid Detection of Mercury and Its Application in Adsorption and HeLa Cell. CHINESE J ORG CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.6023/cjoc202010017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Liu Q, Song J, Ma T, Jiang M, Ma G, Sheng Y. Effects of drying pretreatments on the analysis of the mercury fraction in sediments. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2019; 191:607. [PMID: 31485756 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7799-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The geochemical fractions of heavy metals in sediments are crucial indexes for their mobility and bioavailability evaluations. However, different drying processes of sediment pretreatment could change metal geochemical fractions, especially for Hg, which is potentially volatile. In this study, the influence of pretreatment methods including oven-drying, air-drying, freeze-drying, and fresh sediments on the analysis of Hg fractions in sediments was investigated. Results showed that remarkable differences of Hg concentration were observed between fresh sediments and dried pretreatment sediments (P < 0.05). Briefly, the concentrations of the water-soluble and human stomach acid-soluble fractions in oven-dried and air-dried sediments generally showed significant increasing trends compared with those in the fresh sediments, while the organo-chelated fraction exhibited significant decreasing trends. The cause of this phenomenon was primarily the oxidation of organic matter, aging process, and the diffusion of Hg into micropores. The significant loss was also observed at elemental Hg fraction due to its volatilization effect. The freeze-drying posed minor influence on changes of Hg fraction analysis compared with oven-drying and air-drying. Moreover, the total Hg concentrations in pretreated sediments showed a decline of varying degrees compared with those in fresh sediments ascribing to the volatilization of elemental Hg. Finally, Pearson correlation analysis further confirmed that freeze-drying could minimize the errors of the Hg fraction analysis in sediments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qunqun Liu
- Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jiangmin Song
- Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Ma
- Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
- Shandong Academy of Environmental Science Co., Ltd., Jinan, 250100, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming Jiang
- Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Guangxiang Ma
- Shandong Academy of Environmental Science Co., Ltd., Jinan, 250100, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanqing Sheng
- Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China.
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