Mercury alkylation in freshwater sediments from Scottish canals

Olga Cavoura; C. C. Brombach; R. Cortis; C. M. Davidson; Z. Gajdosechova; H. E. Keenan; E. M. Krupp

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.077

Mercury alkylation in freshwater sediments from Scottish canals

Olga Cavoura, C. C. Brombach, R. Cortis, C. M. Davidson, Z. Gajdosechova, H. E. Keenan, E. M. Krupp

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Abstract

Mercury concentrations were investigated in freshwater sediment from two canals in Scotland, UK. High concentrations found in the Union Canal (35.3-1200 mg kg(-1)) likely originate from historical munitions manufacture, with lower levels in the Forth & Clyde Canal (0.591-9.14 mg kg(-1)). Concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) were low - from 6.02 to 18.6 μg kg(-1) (0.001-0.023% of total Hg) in the Union Canal and from 3.44 to 14.1 μg kg(-1) (0.11-0.58% of total Hg) in the Forth & Clyde Canal - and there was a significant inverse relationship between total Hg concentration and %MeHg. Total Hg concentration was significantly negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with Fe content (in the Union Canal only) but not with organic matter, S content or the proportion of clay present. The MeHg concentration was not correlated with any of the above sediment parameters. Ethylmercury was detected in the most highly contaminated sediments from the Union Canal.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	27-35
Number of pages	9
Journal	Chemosphere
Volume	183
Early online date	13 May 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.077
Publication status	Published - Sept 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding
This research was partly funded by award of a Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta) to RC.

Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank Scottish Canals (formerly British Waterways) for providing background information on the canal systems studied and granting permission to sample, and Dr Ana Teresa Reis (University of Aveiro) for conducting the Fe and S analysis in the Union Canal Sediments.

Keywords

Mercury
Methylation
Sediment
Contamination
Methylmercury
Ethylmercury

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Accepted Manuscript
© 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Accepted author manuscript, 4.47 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "Mercury alkylation in freshwater sediments from Scottish canals",

abstract = "Mercury concentrations were investigated in freshwater sediment from two canals in Scotland, UK. High concentrations found in the Union Canal (35.3-1200 mg kg(-1)) likely originate from historical munitions manufacture, with lower levels in the Forth & Clyde Canal (0.591-9.14 mg kg(-1)). Concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) were low - from 6.02 to 18.6 μg kg(-1) (0.001-0.023% of total Hg) in the Union Canal and from 3.44 to 14.1 μg kg(-1) (0.11-0.58% of total Hg) in the Forth & Clyde Canal - and there was a significant inverse relationship between total Hg concentration and %MeHg. Total Hg concentration was significantly negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with Fe content (in the Union Canal only) but not with organic matter, S content or the proportion of clay present. The MeHg concentration was not correlated with any of the above sediment parameters. Ethylmercury was detected in the most highly contaminated sediments from the Union Canal.",

keywords = "Mercury, Methylation, Sediment, Contamination, Methylmercury, Ethylmercury",

author = "Olga Cavoura and Brombach, {C. C.} and R. Cortis and Davidson, {C. M.} and Z. Gajdosechova and Keenan, {H. E.} and Krupp, {E. M.}",

note = "Funding This research was partly funded by award of a Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta) to RC. Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank Scottish Canals (formerly British Waterways) for providing background information on the canal systems studied and granting permission to sample, and Dr Ana Teresa Reis (University of Aveiro) for conducting the Fe and S analysis in the Union Canal Sediments.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.077",

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T1 - Mercury alkylation in freshwater sediments from Scottish canals

AU - Cavoura, Olga

AU - Brombach, C. C.

AU - Cortis, R.

AU - Davidson, C. M.

AU - Gajdosechova, Z.

AU - Keenan, H. E.

AU - Krupp, E. M.

N1 - Funding This research was partly funded by award of a Strategic Educational Pathways Scholarship (Malta) to RC. Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank Scottish Canals (formerly British Waterways) for providing background information on the canal systems studied and granting permission to sample, and Dr Ana Teresa Reis (University of Aveiro) for conducting the Fe and S analysis in the Union Canal Sediments.

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - Mercury concentrations were investigated in freshwater sediment from two canals in Scotland, UK. High concentrations found in the Union Canal (35.3-1200 mg kg(-1)) likely originate from historical munitions manufacture, with lower levels in the Forth & Clyde Canal (0.591-9.14 mg kg(-1)). Concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) were low - from 6.02 to 18.6 μg kg(-1) (0.001-0.023% of total Hg) in the Union Canal and from 3.44 to 14.1 μg kg(-1) (0.11-0.58% of total Hg) in the Forth & Clyde Canal - and there was a significant inverse relationship between total Hg concentration and %MeHg. Total Hg concentration was significantly negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with Fe content (in the Union Canal only) but not with organic matter, S content or the proportion of clay present. The MeHg concentration was not correlated with any of the above sediment parameters. Ethylmercury was detected in the most highly contaminated sediments from the Union Canal.

AB - Mercury concentrations were investigated in freshwater sediment from two canals in Scotland, UK. High concentrations found in the Union Canal (35.3-1200 mg kg(-1)) likely originate from historical munitions manufacture, with lower levels in the Forth & Clyde Canal (0.591-9.14 mg kg(-1)). Concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) were low - from 6.02 to 18.6 μg kg(-1) (0.001-0.023% of total Hg) in the Union Canal and from 3.44 to 14.1 μg kg(-1) (0.11-0.58% of total Hg) in the Forth & Clyde Canal - and there was a significant inverse relationship between total Hg concentration and %MeHg. Total Hg concentration was significantly negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with Fe content (in the Union Canal only) but not with organic matter, S content or the proportion of clay present. The MeHg concentration was not correlated with any of the above sediment parameters. Ethylmercury was detected in the most highly contaminated sediments from the Union Canal.

KW - Mercury

KW - Methylation

KW - Sediment

KW - Contamination

KW - Methylmercury

KW - Ethylmercury

U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.077

DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.077

M3 - Article

C2 - 28531556

SN - 0045-6535

VL - 183

SP - 27

EP - 35

JO - Chemosphere

JF - Chemosphere

ER -

Mercury alkylation in freshwater sediments from Scottish canals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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