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Mercury Distribution in the Deûle River (Northern France) Measured by the Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films Technique and Conventional Methods

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Abstract

The distribution of mercury in surface water and in sediment from Deûle River in Northern France was studied by application of conventional sampling methods and by diffusive gradients in thin films technique (DGT). Concentration of total dissolved mercury in surface water was 20.8 ± 0.8 ng l−1. The particulate mercury concentration was 6.2 ± 0.6 µg g−1. The particulate mercury was accumulated in sediment (9.9 ± 2.3 mg kg−1), and it was transformed by methylating bacteria to methylmercury, mainly in the first 2-cm layer of the sediment. Total dissolved concentration of mercury in sediment pore water obtained by application of centrifugation extraction was 17.6 ± 4.1 ng l−1, and it was comparable with total dissolved pore water mercury concentration measured by DGT probe containing Duolite GT-73 resin gel (18.2 ± 4.3 ng l−1), taking the sediment heterogeneity and different principles of the applied methods into account. By application of two DGT probes with different resin gels specific for mercury, it was found that approximately 30 % of total dissolved mercury in sediment pore water was present in labile forms easy available for biota. The resolution of mercury DGT depth profiles was 0.5 cm, which allows, unlike conventional techniques, to study the connection of the geochemical cycle of mercury with geochemical cycles of iron and manganese.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Region Nord-Pas-de-Calais and by Materials Research Centre at FCH BUT-Sustainability and Development, REG LO1211, with financial support from National Programme for Sustainability I (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic). The authors thank Romain Descamps (University of Lille 1) and Vladena Kovarikova (Brno University of Technology) for their technical support and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the paper.

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  1. Centre for Materials Research, Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0012 Purkyňova 118, 612 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Pavel Diviš

  2. LASIR UMR CNRS 8516, Equipe Physico-Chimie de l’Environnement, Université de Lille, 1, Bât. C8 2° étage, 59655, Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France

    Milada Kadlecová & Baghdad Ouddane

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  1. Pavel Diviš
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Correspondence to Pavel Diviš.

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Diviš, P., Kadlecová, M. & Ouddane, B. Mercury Distribution in the Deûle River (Northern France) Measured by the Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films Technique and Conventional Methods. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 70, 700–709 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-015-0231-y

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