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Watershed influences on mercury in tributaries to Lake Ontario

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Abstract

Mercury (Hg) concentrations and speciation were measured in nine tributaries to Lake Ontario as part of two independent field-sampling programs. Among the study tributaries, mean total Hg (THg) concentrations ranged from 0.9 to 2.6 ng/L; mean dissolved Hg (THgD) ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 ng/L; mean particulate Hg (THgP) ranged from 0.3 to 2.0 ng/L; and mean methylmercury (MeHg) ranged from 0.06 to 0.14 ng/L. Watershed land cover, total suspended solids (TSS), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were evaluated as potential controls of tributary Hg. Significant relationships between THgD and DOC were limited, whereas significant relationships between THgP and TSS were common across watersheds. Total suspended solids was strongly correlated with the percentage of agricultural land in watersheds. Particle enrichment of Hg (mass Hg/mass TSS) was highly variable, but distinctly higher in US tributaries likely due to higher TSS in Canadian tributaries associated with higher urban and agricultural land cover. MeHg was largely associated with the aqueous phase, and MeHg as a fraction of THg was positively correlated to percent open water coverage in the watershed. Wetland cover was positively correlated to THg and MeHg concentrations, while urban land cover was only related to higher THgP.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence through the CARTI program. Partial funding for this work was provided by the Wen-Hsiung and Kuan-Ming Li Graduate Fellowship. Field and laboratory support was provided by Mario Montesdeoca at Syracuse University and Tracie Greenberg, Tom Ulanowski, Britney Meyers, and Geoff Stupple at the University of Toronto. Ram Yerubandi at Environment Canada and Tony Zhang at the University of Toronto aided in development of discharge estimates for the Trent River. Mark Gravelding and Alain Hebert, both of ARCADIS U.S., Inc., provided additional support for manuscript development. Edward Mason was an early contributor to the work.

Funding

This research was supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence through the CARTI program EPA X-83232501-0.

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  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 151 Link Hall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Joseph S. Denkenberger, Habibollah Fakhraei, Mario Montesdeoca & Charles T. Driscoll

  2. Department of Biology and Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Brian Branfireun

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Denkenberger, J.S., Fakhraei, H., Branfireun, B. et al. Watershed influences on mercury in tributaries to Lake Ontario. Ecotoxicology 29, 1614–1626 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-019-02157-4

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