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Mercury in Biota and Surficial Sediments from Coatzacoalcos Estuary, Gulf of Mexico: Distribution and Seasonal Variation

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Abstract

Variation of mercury (Hg) in sediments and biota from Coatzacoalcos estuary during the dry, rainy and windy seasons was estimated. In sediments, Hg concentrations ranged from 0.07 μg g−1 in site 13 (Ixhuatepec) located upstream, to 1.06 μg g−1 in site 3 (Coatzacoalcos river), located in the industrialized area. Highest enrichment factor (EF) and index of geoaccumulation (I geo) in surficial sediments were 53 and 5.1 respectively. From EF and I geo, it is considered that Coatzacoalcos estuary is from moderately contaminated to contaminated. In most fish species from Coatzacoalcos estuary, the sequence of Hg concentration was liver>muscle>gills. Average Hg concentrations in soft tissue of bivalves ranged from 0.09 μg g−1 in Corbicula fluminea to 0.18 μg g−1 in Polymesoda caroliniana. Biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF) ranged from 0.9 in P. caroliniana during the rainy season (site 4) to 3.8 in P. caroliniana from the same site during the windy season.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Z. Castillo-Rodríguez, for mollusc identification; A. Castro del Río, for granulometric analyses; C. Ramírez-Jáuregui and P. Allende-Rosales for bibliographic support. Thanks are due to Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) for the financial support through project SEMARNAT-CONACYT-2004-C01-32.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technological Institute of Mazatlán, Calle Corsario 1 No. 203, Mazatlán, 82070, Sinaloa, Mexico

    Jorge Ruelas-Inzunza

  2. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Joel Montes Camarena s/n, Mazatlán, 82040, Sinaloa, Mexico

    Federico Páez-Osuna, Nydia Zamora-Arellano, Felipe Amezcua-Martínez & Humberto Bojórquez-Leyva

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  1. Jorge Ruelas-Inzunza
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  2. Federico Páez-Osuna
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  3. Nydia Zamora-Arellano
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  4. Felipe Amezcua-Martínez
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  5. Humberto Bojórquez-Leyva
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Correspondence to Jorge Ruelas-Inzunza.

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Ruelas-Inzunza, J., Páez-Osuna, F., Zamora-Arellano, N. et al. Mercury in Biota and Surficial Sediments from Coatzacoalcos Estuary, Gulf of Mexico: Distribution and Seasonal Variation. Water Air Soil Pollut 197, 165–174 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9799-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9799-4

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