Dry and wet seasonal variation of total mercury, inorganic mercury, and methylmercury formation in estuary and harbor sediments

Chih-Feng Chen; Yun-Ru Ju; Yee Cheng Lim; Chiu-Wen Chen; Chung-Hsin Wu; Yi-Li Lin; Cheng-Di Dong

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109683

Dry and wet seasonal variation of total mercury, inorganic mercury, and methylmercury formation in estuary and harbor sediments

J Environ Manage. 2020 Jan 1:253:109683. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109683. Epub 2019 Oct 25.

Authors

Chih-Feng Chen¹, Yun-Ru Ju², Yee Cheng Lim¹, Chiu-Wen Chen³, Chung-Hsin Wu⁴, Yi-Li Lin⁵, Cheng-Di Dong⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan.
² Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National United University, Miaoli, 36063, Taiwan.
³ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan. Electronic address: cwchen@nkust.edu.tw.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 80778, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 82445, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan. Electronic address: cddong@nkust.edu.tw.

PMID: 31666210
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109683

Abstract

This study analyzed the seasonal variations and the spatial distributions of total mercury (THg), inorganic divalent mercury (IHg), and methylmercury (MeHg) in sediments of river mouth (RM), main channel (MC), and entrance (E) of the Port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The THg, IHg, and MeHg concentrations were, respectively, 198-9130, 2.6-3164, and <0.3-42.6 μg/kg in the wet season and 362-2264, 11.0-790, and 3.3-65.6 μg/kg in the dry season. As for seasonal variations, the concentrations of THg and IHg for RM sediment were higher in the wet season than in the dry season, whereas for MC and E was converse. Generally, MeHg in sediment was higher in the dry season than in the wet season. THg and IHg were mainly transported from the river, whereas MeHg was generated by onsite microbes transforming the local available IHg. Results indicated that the formation of MeHg in sediment may be mainly influenced by the concentration of IHg and seasonal variations.

Keywords: Estuary; Harbor; Mercury; Methylmercury; Seasonal variation; Sediment.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Estuaries
Geologic Sediments
Mercury*
Seasons
Taiwan
Water Pollutants, Chemical*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Mercury