RESUMEN
Mercury, a toxic trace metal, has been used extensively as an inexpensive and readily available method of extracting gold from fine-grained sediment. Worldwide, artisanal mining is responsible for one third of all mercury released into the environment. By testing bat hair from museum specimens and field collected samples from areas both impacted and unimpacted by artisanal gold mining in Perú, we show monomethylmercury (MMHg) has increased in the last 100 years. MMHg concentrations were also greatest in the highest bat trophic level (insectivores), and in areas experiencing extractive artisanal mining. Reproductive female bats had higher MMHg concentrations, and both juvenile and adult bats from mercury contaminated sites had more MMHg than those from uncontaminated sites. Bats have important ecological functions, providing vital ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersal, and insect control. Natural populations can act as environmental sentinels and offer the chance to expand our understanding of, and responses to, environmental and human health concerns.
Asunto(s)
Quirópteros/metabolismo , Monitoreo del Ambiente/métodos , Contaminantes Ambientales/metabolismo , Intoxicación por Metales Pesados/veterinaria , Mercurio/metabolismo , Minería , Animales , Ecología , Ecosistema , Femenino , Oro , Cabello/química , Masculino , Mercurio/análisis , PerúRESUMEN
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin that is biomagnified approximately 1-10 million-fold in aquatic carnivores such as the Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), whose excreta and molted pelage, in turn, constitute a source of environmental MeHg contamination at the base of marine food chains. The potential for this top-down contamination is greatest in coastal areas with productive marine ecosystems that provide ideal habitats for large marine mammal colonies that can number in the thousands. This recycling of MeHg was evidenced by comparing total mercury (HgT) and MeHg concentrations in seawater, and HgT in molted pelage of M. angustirostris, at the Año Nuevo State Reserve pinniped rookery with concentrations at neighboring coastal sites in Central California. Seawater MeHg concentrations around the rookery (average = 2.5 pM) were markedly higher than those at the comparison coastal sites (average = 0.30 pM), and were as high as 9.5 pM during the M. angustirostris molting season. As a consequence, excreta and molts from this marine mammal colony, and presumably other marine predator populations, constitute a major source of MeHg at the base of the local marine food chain.
Asunto(s)
Contaminantes Ambientales/análisis , Cabello/química , Mercurio/análisis , Phocidae/metabolismo , Agua de Mar/química , Animales , Disponibilidad Biológica , California , Ecotoxicología , Contaminantes Ambientales/toxicidad , Heces/química , Mercurio/toxicidad , Compuestos de Metilmercurio/análisis , Espectrometría de FluorescenciaRESUMEN
Fluxes of total mercury (Hg(T)) and monomethylmercury (MMHg) associated with submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) at two sites onthe central California coast were estimated by combining measurements of Hg(T) and MMHg in groundwater with the use of short-lived, naturally occurring radium isotopes as tracers of groundwater inputs. Concentrations of Hg(T) were relatively low, ranging from 1.2 to 28.3 pM in filtered groundwater, 0.8 to 11.6 pM in filtered surface waters, and 2.5 to 12.9 pM in unfiltered surface waters. Concentrations of MMHg ranged from < 0.04 to 3.1 pM in filtered groundwater, < 0.04 to 0.53 pM in filtered surface waters, and 0.07 to 1.2 pM in unfiltered surface waters. Multiple linear regression analysis identified significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between dissolved groundwater concentrations of Hg(T) and those of NH4+ and SiO2, and between dissolved groundwater concentrations of MMHg and those of Hg(T) and NH4+. However, such relationships did not account for the majority of the variability in concentration data for either mercury species in groundwater. Fluxes of Hg(T) via SGD were estimated to be 250 +/- 160 nmol day m(-1) of shoreline at Stinson Beach and 3.0 +/- 2.0 nmol m(-2) day(-1) at Elkhorn Slough. These Hg(T) fluxes are substantially greater than net atmospheric inputs of Hg(T) reported for waters in nearby San Francisco Bay. Calculated fluxes of MMHg to coastal waters via SGD were 10 +/- 12 nmol day(-1) m(-1) of shoreline at Stinson Beach and 0.24 +/- 0.21 nmol m(-2) day at Elkhorn Slough. These MMHg fluxes are similar to benthic fluxes of MMHg out of surface sediments commonly reported for estuarine and coastal environments. Consequently, this work demonstrates that SGD is an important source of both Hg(T) and MMHg to coastal waters along the central California coast.
Asunto(s)
Mercurio/análisis , Compuestos de Metilmercurio/análisis , California , Ecosistema , Monitoreo del Ambiente/métodos , Sedimentos Geológicos , Radio (Elemento)/análisis , Análisis de Regresión , Agua de Mar/análisis , Agua/química , Movimientos del Agua , Contaminantes del Agua/análisis , Contaminantes Químicos del Agua/análisis , Purificación del AguaRESUMEN
The Walker Creek intertidal delta of Tomales Bay, California is impacted by a former mercury mine within the watershed. Eleven short sediment cores (10 cm length) collected from the delta found monomethylmercury (MMHg) concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 11.4 ng/g (dry wt.), with lower concentrations occurring at the vegetated marsh and upstream channel locations. Algal mats common to the delta's sediment surface had MMHg concentrations ranging from 7.5 to 31.5 ng/g, and the top 1 cm of sediment directly under the mats had two times greater MMHg concentrations compared to adjacent locations without algal covering. Spatial trends in resident biota reflect enhanced MMHg uptake at the delta compared to other bay locations. Eighteen sediment cores, 1 to 2 m deep, collected from the 1.2 km2 delta provide an estimate of a total mercury (Hg) inventory of 2500+/-500 kg. Sediment Hg concentrations ranged from pre-mining background conditions of approximately 0.1 microg/g to a post-mining maximum of 5 microg/g. Sediment accumulation rates were determined from three sediment cores using measured differences of (137)Cs activity. We estimate a pre-mining Hg accumulation of less than 20 kg/yr, and a period of maximum Hg accumulation in the 1970s and 1980s with loading rates greater than 50 kg/yr, corresponding to the failure of a tailings dam at the mine site. At the time of sampling (2003) over 40 kg/yr of Hg was still accumulating at the delta, indicating limited recovery. We attribute observed spatial evolution of elevated Hg levels to ongoing inputs and sediment re-working, and estimate the inventory of the anthropogenic fraction of total Hg to be at least 1500+/-300 kg. We suggest ongoing sediment inputs and methylation at the deltaic surface support enhanced mercury levels for resident biota and transfer to higher trophic levels throughout the Bay.