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Using Sulfate-Amended Sediment Slurry Batch Reactors to Evaluate Mercury Methylation

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Abstract

In the methylated form, mercury represents a concern to public health primarily through the consumption of contaminated fish tissue. Research conducted on the methylation of mercury strongly suggests that the process is microbial in nature and facilitated principally by sulfate-reducing bacteria. This study addressed the potential for mercury methylation by varying sulfate treatments and wetland-based soil in microbial slurry reactors with available inorganic mercury. Under anoxic laboratory conditions conducive to the growth of naturally occurring sulfate-reducing bacteria in the soil, it was possible to evaluate how various sulfate additions influenced the methylation of inorganic mercury added to overlying water as well as the sequestration of dissolved copper. Treatments included sulfate amendments ranging from 25 to 500 mg/L (0.26 to 5.2 mM) above the soil’s natural sulfate level. Mercury methylation in sulfate treatments did not exceed that of the nonamended control during a 35-day incubation period. However, increases in methylmercury concentration were linked to bacterial growth and sulfate reduction. A time lag in methylation in the highest treatment correlated with an equivalent lag in bacterial growth. The decrease in dissolved copper ranged from 72.7% in the control to 99.7% in the highest sulfate treatment. It was determined that experimental systems such as these can provide some useful information but that they also have severe limitations once sulfate is depleted or if sulfate is used in excess.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the United States Department of Energy and Westinghouse Savannah River Company through a research program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. The authors thank D. Wells, J. Bowers, R. Ray, M. Jones, D. Addis, P. Mckinsey, and C. Turick for analytical and technical assistance. All mercury samples were analyzed at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Savannah, GA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, USA

    S. M. Harmon & L. A. Newman

  2. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, 31402-0889, USA

    J. K. King

  3. Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Aiken, South Carolina, 29808, USA

    J. B. Gladden

  4. University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina, 29808, USA

    L. A. Newman

Authors
  1. S. M. Harmon
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  2. J. K. King
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  3. J. B. Gladden
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  4. L. A. Newman
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Correspondence to S. M. Harmon.

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Harmon, S.M., King, J.K., Gladden, J.B. et al. Using Sulfate-Amended Sediment Slurry Batch Reactors to Evaluate Mercury Methylation. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 52, 326–331 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-006-0071-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-006-0071-x

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