Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 48, Issue 2, Pages 954-960Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/es403030d
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Funding
- NIH from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [P42 ES007373]
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Mercury (Hg) speciation and the activity of Hg(II)-methylating bacteria are responsible for the rate of methylmercury production and thus bioaccumulation in marine foodwebs. Factors affecting porewater partitioning (K-d) and methylation of Hg(II) were examined at 11 sites in sediment of 4 biogeochemically diverse estuaries in the Northeast U.S. In Long Island Sound, 88% of total mercury (HgT) log Kd variability was described by porewater dissolved organic carbon concentration and sediment total sulfur (S) content. Whereas across all estuaries, regression analyses showed that S alone drives about 70% of Kd variability and 50% of changes in methylation rates; and the inclusion of DOC and sulfides did not improve the prediction.. Thus, we demonstrated that S is a better predictor of, HgT log Kd than the sediment organic matter across multiple estuaries, and while organic matter and S are interchangeable in small-scale studies, on a larger scale, sediment S content is the simplest and most effective variable to measure.
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