4.7 Article

Bloaccumulation of mercury in benthic communities of a river ecosystem affected by mercury mining

Journal

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 377, Issue 2-3, Pages 407-415

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.02.010

Keywords

mercury; methyl mercury; bioaccumulation; benthic communities; river ecosystems

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The presence of mercury in the river Idrijca (Slovenia) is mainly due to 500 years of mercury mining in this region. In order to understand the cycling of mercury in the Idrijca ecosystem it is crucial to investigate the role of biota. This study is part of an ongoing investigation of mercury biogeochemistry in the river Idrijca, focusing on the accumulation and speciation of mercury in the lower levels of the food chain, namely filamentous algae, periphyton and macroinvertebrates. Mercury analysis and speciation in the biota and in water were performed during the spring, summer and autumn seasons at four locations on the river, representing different degrees of mercury contamination. Total (THg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) were measured. The results showed that the highest THg concentrations in biota correlate well with THg levels in sediments and water. The level of MeHg is spatially and seasonally variable, showing higher values at the most contaminated sites during the summer and autumn periods. The percentage of Hg as MeHg increases with the trophic level from water (0.1-0.8%), algae (0.5-1.3%), periphyton (1.6-8.8%) to macro invertebrates (0.1-100%), which indicates active transformation, accumulation and magnification of mercury in the benthic organism of this heavily contaminated torrential river. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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