Evaluation of Total Mercury in Sediments of the Descoberto River Environmental Protection Area—Brazil

Joelma Ferreira Portela, João Pedro Rudrigues de Souza, Myller de Sousa Tonhá, José Vicente Elias Bernardi, Jérémie Garnier and Jurandir Rodrigues SouzaDe
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Joelma Ferreira Portela: Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Instituto de Química, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District 70919-970, Brazil
João Pedro Rudrigues de Souza: Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Instituto de Química, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District 70919-970, Brazil
Myller de Sousa Tonhá: Geochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Geosciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District 70919-970, Brazil
José Vicente Elias Bernardi: Life and Earth Sciences Laboratory, University of Brasilia, Planaltina, Federal District 73345-010, Brazil
Jérémie Garnier: Geochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Geosciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District 70919-970, Brazil
Jurandir Rodrigues SouzaDe: Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Instituto de Química, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District 70919-970, Brazil

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: To evaluate the total mercury accumulation (THg) in the Descoberto river basin environmental protection area (DREPA), nine sediment and water samples were collected from the Descoberto reservoir (lentic environment), and 23 in its tributaries (lotic environment), which are located in a densely urbanized area within the Descoberto river watershed, Brazil. The following physicochemical parameters of water were determined: dissolved oxygen (DO); hydrogen potential (pH); total dissolved solids (TDS); nitrate (NO 3 − ); chloride (Cl − ); temperature (T); sulfate (SO 4 2− ), and in sediment, the concentration of total mercury (THg) and volatile material (VM) was determined. THg concentrations in sediments showed a significant difference ( p = 0.002) between tributaries (0.03 µg g −1 ± 0.02) and reservoir (0.08 µg g −1 ± 0.04), indicating accumulation in the lentic environment. Most of the results evaluated for ecotoxicological risks presented values below the concentration, at which adverse effects would rarely be observed, ERL (effects range low). However, in relation to the enrichment factor (EF), applied to identify the anthropogenic contribution, the results indicate that most of the samples are moderately polluted through atmospheric deposition due to vehicular traffic and agriculture. These results show that the likelihood of methylation in the lentic environment is higher than in the lotic environment.

Keywords: accumulation; water reservoir; total mercury; sediment; descoberto river basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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