Distribution of Mercury and Methylmercury in Farmland Soils Affected by Manganese Mining and Smelting Activities

Yongjiang Zhang, Xian Zhou, Weibin Ma, Deliang Yin, Yongmin Wang, Cheng Zhang and Dingyong Wang ()
Additional contact information
Yongjiang Zhang: Department of Environment and Quality Test, Chongqing Chemical Industry Vocational College, Chongqing 401220, China
Xian Zhou: Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Weibin Ma: College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Deliang Yin: Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Yongmin Wang: College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Cheng Zhang: College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Dingyong Wang: College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: Manganese (Mn)-related activities would affect the mercury (Hg) cycling in farmlands, whereas this was not well understood. Here, one of the largest Mn ores in China was selected to study the effects of Mn-related activities on the accumulation and distribution of total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in farmland soils. The soil THg concentrations in the mining area were 0.56 ± 0.45, 0.56 ± 0.45, 0.53 ± 0.44, and 0.50 ± 0.46 mg kg −1 in the 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–40 cm layers, respectively, while they were increased to 0.75 ± 0.75, 0.72 ± 0.60, 0.62 ± 0.46, and 0.52 ± 0.38 mg kg −1 in the smelting area. Similarly, the soil MeHg concentrations in the smelting area were also elevated by 1.04–1.34 times as compared to those in the mining area. Concentrations of THg (0.59 ± 0.50 mg kg −1 ) and MeHg (0.64 ± 0.82 μg kg −1 ) in soils were higher than the regional background value but lower than in vicinal Hg-mining areas, while they were largely elevated at the intersection of two rivers in the smelting area. Significant positive Mn-THg relationship ( p < 0.01) and negative Mn-MeHg relationship ( p < 0.01) favored the conclusion that soil Mn could promote Hg accumulation while inhibiting MeHg production. Approximately 70% of soil Hg was distributed in the residual phase, and the environmental hazard was not elevated according to a geochemical model. Overall, mining and smelting activities of Mn ores have resulted in obvious and distinct effects on the accumulation and methylation of Hg in farmland soils, but the environmental hazards are currently manageable.

Keywords: manganese-related activities; soil; mercury; methylmercury; influencing factors; environmental hazard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10288/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10288/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:10288-:d:891793

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().