Distribution of Total and Methyl Mercury in a Creek Ecosystem Near Bombay

The Trans Thane Creek Industrial Area (TTCIA) in New Bombay, developed as a chemical zone by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), houses a large number of major and small-scale industries which manufacture and store a number of petrochemical, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and pesticide formulations. The creek ecosystem has been monitored three times for total and methylmercury; once during the pre-and postmonsoon periods of 1994, and once during the premonsoon period of _1995. The concentration of total mercury was determined by CVAAS using SnCl, methodology for liberating vapour phase mercury. Reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with a UV detector was used for the separation and determination of methylmercury. The efficacy of the methodology was assessed through analysis of standard reference material obtained from IAEA (tuna fish, IAEA-350).