Production of organic mercury from Hg0: experiments using microcosms

Autor(es)

Márcia Cristina Bisinoti ^[1] ; Wilson F. Jardim ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Instituto de Química - Brasil

^[2] Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Instituto de Química - Brasil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society; v. 14, n. 2, p. 244-248, 2003-04-00.

Resumo

Transformation of inorganic to organic mercury is a process known to occur in the water column as well as in sediment. However, little is known about the fate of metallic mercury in tropical environments. In this work the production of organic mercury in water and sediment under aerobic and anaerobic conditions was demonstrated in a microcosm setup using a 6:1 water: dry sediment ratio, after a spike of 0.1% (w/w) of Hg0. The rate of production of organic mercury in sediment was higher under anaerobic conditions (617 mg kg-1 day-1) than that obtained under aerobic conditions (280 mg kg-1 day-1). An attempt to evaluate the production of organic mercury in abiotic conditions was not possible due to drastic changes in the microcosm during sterilization when compared to the experimental conditions maintained under biotic conditions. It was concluded that metallic mercury, which enters the environment mainly due to gold-mining activities, undergoes a reactive dissolution in the aquatic medium, thus becoming a suitable substrate for the production of organic mercury in tropical environments. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 00/02320-2 - Taxa de metilação em sedimentos tropicais a partir de Hg (0): experimentos em microcosmos
• Beneficiário: Márcia Cristina Bisinoti
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Mestrado
• Processo FAPESP: 00/13517-1 - Fluxos de mercúrio na bacia do Rio Negro, Amazônia
• Beneficiário: Wilson de Figueiredo Jardim
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático