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Mercury behaviour in sediments from a sub-tropical coastal environment in SE Brazil

1998; Springer Science+Business Media; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/bfb0010913

1613-2580

Paulo Rubens Guimarães Barrocas, Julio César Wasserman,

Marine animal studies overview

The geochemical behaviour of mercury in sediments of the São João de Meriti system (Guanabara bay watershed, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was studied. Total concentrations of mercury were compared to sediment contents of clay-silt, organic/inorganic carbon, total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and specific amino acids, total sulphur and iron. A sequential extraction was also used to clear up some questions arising from the total concentration correlations. Results (0.32–3.38 mg Hg kg−1) show a clear contamination of the studied area by mercury, although the levels are not high when compared to other impacted areas around the world. The behaviour of mercury in the area is closely linked to organic matter. Good correlations were found between mercury and organic indexes (organic carbon, nitrogen, amino acids), 95% of the mercury present in the sediment was shown to be linked to organic matter (as indicated by geochemical partitioning). On the other hand, no correlation was found between mercury and sulphur, which is explained by the very stable bonds between mercury and organic matter.