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Ku P, Tsui MTK, Liu S, Corson KB, Williams AS, Monteverde MR, Woerndle GE, Hershey AE, Rublee PA. Examination of mercury contamination from a recent coal ash spill into the Dan River, North Carolina, United States. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2021; 208:111469. [PMID: 33091769 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Coal ash spills occasionally occur due to the accidental failure of surface impoundments, and toxic metal-laden ash can pose a serious health threat to adjacent aquatic ecosystems. Here, we performed an investigation into longitudinal variations of mercury (Hg) contamination in the Dan River (North Carolina, United States) about 17 and 29 months after a February 2014 coal ash spill incident, in which the reported Hg concentrations in the spilled coal ash (210 ng/g) were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than the river sediments (2-61 ng/g). We examined total Hg (THg) and methyl Hg (MeHg) in sediments from 0 to 65 km downstream of the spill, and found that most of the variations of THg and MeHg in surface sediments (0-16 cm) could be well accounted by the organic matter content and appeared to be not contaminated by Hg derived from coal ash. In examining MeHg bioaccumulation in invertebrates (aquatic and riparian) and fish in the Dan River and fish in a reservoir downstream of Dan River, we found no evidence of elevated MeHg bioaccumulation due to the 2014 coal ash spill. Thus, we concluded that Hg contamination from the coal ash spill is largely absent in the Dan River for both surface sediments and biota within the first three years of spill (until 2017), even though the majority of coal ash may be buried deeper in the sediment in the river channel and/or the downstream reservoir. Alternatively, the Hg associated with the coal ash is largely not bioavailable for extensive microbial Hg methylation. The findings provide useful insights into remediation strategies for this incident and other coal ash spills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peijia Ku
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
| | - Songnian Liu
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Kimber B Corson
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Ashley S Williams
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Matthew R Monteverde
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Glenn E Woerndle
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Anne E Hershey
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Parke A Rublee
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
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Woerndle GE, Tsz-Ki Tsui M, Sebestyen SD, Blum JD, Nie X, Kolka RK. New Insights on Ecosystem Mercury Cycling Revealed by Stable Isotopes of Mercury in Water Flowing from a Headwater Peatland Catchment. Environ Sci Technol 2018; 52:1854-1861. [PMID: 29328674 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Stable isotope compositions of mercury (Hg) were measured in the outlet stream and in soil cores at different landscape positions in a 9.7-ha boreal upland-peatland catchment. An acidic permanganate/persulfate digestion procedure was validated for water samples with high dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations through Hg spike addition analysis. We report a relatively large variation in mass-dependent fractionation (δ202Hg; from -2.12 to -1.32‰) and a smaller, but significant, variation of mass-independent fractionation (Δ199Hg; from -0.35 to -0.12‰) during two years of sampling with streamflow varying from 0.003 to 7.8 L s-1. Large variations in δ202Hg occurred only during low streamflow (<0.6 L s-1), which suggest that under high streamflow conditions a peatland lagg zone between the bog (3.0 ha) and uplands (6.7 ha) becomes the dominant source of Hg in downstream waters. Further, a binary mixing model showed that except for the spring snowmelt period, Hg in streamwater from the catchment was mainly derived from dry deposition of gaseous elemental Hg (73-95%). This study demonstrates the usefulness of Hg isotopes for tracing sources of Hg deposition, which can lead to a better understanding of the biogeochemical cycling and hydrological transport of Hg in headwater catchments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glenn E Woerndle
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro , Greensboro, North Carolina 27402, United States
| | - Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro , Greensboro, North Carolina 27402, United States
| | - Stephen D Sebestyen
- U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Northern Research Station , Grand Rapids, Minnesota 55744, United States
| | - Joel D Blum
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Xiangping Nie
- Department of Ecology/Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University , Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Randall K Kolka
- U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Northern Research Station , Grand Rapids, Minnesota 55744, United States
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Balogh SJ, Tsui MTK, Blum JD, Matsuyama A, Woerndle GE, Yano S, Tada A. Tracking the fate of mercury in the fish and bottom sediments of Minamata Bay, Japan, using stable mercury isotopes. Environ Sci Technol 2015; 49:5399-406. [PMID: 25877383 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b00631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Between 1932 and 1968, industrial wastewater containing methylmercury (MeHg) and other mercury (Hg) compounds was discharged directly into Minamata Bay, Japan, seriously contaminating the fishery. Thousands of people who consumed tainted fish and shellfish developed a neurological disorder now known as Minamata disease. Concentrations of total mercury (THg) in recent fish and sediment samples from Minamata Bay remain higher than those in other Japanese coastal waters, and elevated concentrations of THg in sediments in the greater Yatsushiro Sea suggest that Hg has moved beyond the bay. We measured stable Hg isotope ratios in sediment cores from Minamata Bay and the southern Yatsushiro Sea and in archived fish from Minamata Bay dating from 1978 to 2013. Values of δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg in Yatsushiro Sea surface sediments were indistinguishable from those in highly contaminated Minamata Bay sediments but distinct from and nonoverlapping with values in background (noncontaminated) sediments. We conclude that stable Hg isotope data can be used to track Minamata Bay Hg as it moves into the greater Yatsushiro Sea. In addition, our data suggest that MeHg is produced in bottom sediments and enters the food web without substantial prior photodegradation, possibly in sediment porewaters or near the sediment-water interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven J Balogh
- †Moyau Consulting Engineering and Science, St. Paul, Minnesota 55116, United States
- ‡Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, St. Paul, Minnesota 55106, United States
| | - Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui
- §Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402, United States
| | | | - Akito Matsuyama
- ⊥National Institute for Minamata Disease, Minamata, Kumamoto 867-0008, Japan
| | - Glenn E Woerndle
- §Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402, United States
| | - Shinichiro Yano
- #Kyushu University, Faculty of Engineering, Fukuoka, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| | - Akihide Tada
- ∇Nagasaki University, Faculty of Engineering, Nagasaki, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan
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