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Mercury Partitioning in Surface Sediments of the Upper St. Lawrence River (Canada): Evidence of the Importance of the Sulphur Chemistry

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Abstract

An intensive survey of mercury speciation was performed at a site on the Upper St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada with a history mercury contamination in sediments. Surface sediments were collected every 1.50 h. Total mercury (Hgtotal), methylmercury (MeHg), organic carbon, inorganic and organic sulphur were determined in the solid fraction. Dissolved Hgtotal, MeHg and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were measured in pore waters. Concentrations of Hgtotal in the upper layers (first 5 cm) were high, ranging from 1.42 to 25.8 nmol g−1 in solids and from 125 to 449 pM in pore waters. MeHg levels were also high, ranging from 4.34 to 34.1 pmol g−1 in solids and from 40 to 96 pM in pore waters. This amounts to up to 1.4% of Hgtotal present as MeHg in solids and 64% in pore waters. A daily pattern for Hgtotal was observed in the solid fraction. The MeHg distribution in solids and pore waters was not correlated with Hgtotal or DOC, suggesting that the concentrations of MeHg are probably more influenced by the relative rates of methylation/demethylation reactions in the sediment–water interface. Acid volatile sulphide levels and DOC were inversely correlated with organic sulphur (Sorg) levels suggesting that both parameters are involved in the rapid production of Sorg. A positive correlation was also observed between Hgtotal and Sorg in solids (R = 0.87, p < 0.01) illustrating the importance of organic sulphur in the retention and distribution of Hg in the solid fraction of the sediments. The results suggest that variations of Hgtotal concentrations in Upper St. Lawrence River surface sediments were strongly influenced by the formation/deposition/retention of organic sulphur compounds in the sediment–water interface.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Environment Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through strategic grant number 0703-240-01. João Canário also acknowledges the grant from the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal) and Dr. Marta Nogueira (IPIMAR) for the carbon and total sulphur analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Fisheries and Sea Research, IPIMAR, Av. Brasilia, 1449006, Lisboa, Portugal

    João Canário

  2. Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    João Canário, Laurier Poissant, Martin Pilote & Philipe Constant

  3. Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Nelson O`Driscoll

  4. St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, Cornwall, ON, Canada

    Jeff Ridal

  5. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Laurier Poissant, Tania Delongchamp, Jules Blais & David Lean

  6. Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Jeff Ridal

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Canário, J., Poissant, L., O`Driscoll, N. et al. Mercury Partitioning in Surface Sediments of the Upper St. Lawrence River (Canada): Evidence of the Importance of the Sulphur Chemistry. Water Air Soil Pollut 187, 219–231 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9510-1

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