Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4426555 | Environmental Pollution | 2008 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
Patterns of mercury (Hg) speciation were examined in four Minnesota streams ranging from the main-stem Mississippi River to small tributaries in the basin. Filtered phase concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg), inorganic Hg (IHg), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were higher in all streams during a major summertime runoff event, and DOC was enriched with MeHg but not with IHg. Particulate-phase MeHg and IHg concentrations generally increased with total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations but the event data did not diverge greatly from the non-event data, suggesting that sources of suspended sediments in these streams did not vary significantly between event and non-event samplings. The dissolved fractions (filtered concentration/unfiltered concentration) of both MeHg and IHg increased with increasing DOC concentrations, but varied inversely with TSS concentrations. While MeHg typically constitutes only a minor portion of the total Hg (THg) in these streams, this contribution is not constant and can vary greatly over time in response to watershed inputs.
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Environmental Science
Environmental Chemistry
Authors
Steven J. Balogh, Edward B. Swain, Yabing H. Nollet,