Sammanfattning

Mercury (Hg) deposited from emissions or from local contamination, can have serious health effects on humans and wildlife. Traditionally, Hg has been seen as a threat to aquatic wildlife, because of its conversion in suboxic conditions into bioavailable methylmercury (MeHg), but it can also threaten contaminated terrestrial ecosystems. In Asia, rice paddies in particular may be sensitive ecosystems. Earthworms are soil-dwelling organisms that have been used as indicators of Hg bioavailability; however, the MeHg concentrations they accumulate in rice paddy environments are not well known. Earthworm and soil samples were collected from rice paddies at progressive distances from abandoned mercury mines in Guizhou, China, and at control sites without a history of Hg mining. Total Hg (THg) and MeHg concentrations declined in soil and earthworms as distance increased from the mines, but the percentage of THg that was MeHg, and the bioaccumulation factors in earthworms, increased over this gradient. This escalation in methylation and the incursion of MeHg into earthworms may be influenced by more acidic soil conditions and higher organic content further from the mines. In areas where the source of Hg is deposition, especially in water-logged and acidic rice paddy soil, earthworms may biomagnify MeHg more than was previously reported. It is emphasized that rice paddy environments affected by acidifying deposition may be widely dispersed throughout Asia. (C) 2016 SETAC

Nyckelord

Biomagnification; Earthworms; Ecotoxicology; Mercury biomonitoring; Soil contamination

Publicerad i

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
2017, Volym: 36, nummer: 5, sidor: 1202-1210
Utgivare: WILEY

SLU författare

• Bishop, Kevin

  • Institutionen för vatten och miljö, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Uppsala universitet

Globala målen

SDG15 Skydda, återställa och främja ett hållbart nyttjande av landbaserade ekosystem, hållbart bruka skogar, bekämpa ökenspridning, hejda och vrida tillbaka markförstöringen samt hejda förlusten av biologisk mångfald
SDG3 Säkerställa hälsosamma liv och främja välbefinnande för alla i alla åldrar


UKÄ forskningsämne

Miljövetenskap


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3643

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/90556