TY  - JOUR
AU  - Larose Catherine, Dommergue Aurelien
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Bioavailable Mercury Cycling in Polar Snowpacks
T2  - Environ. Sci. Technol.
JO  - Environ. Sci. Technol.
SP  - 2150
EP  - 2156
VL  - 45
IS  - 6
PB  - American Chemical Society
N2  - Polar regions are subject to contamination by mercury (Hg) transported from lower latitudes, severely impacting human and animal health. Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDEs) are an episodic process by which Hg is transferred from the atmospheric reservoir to arctic snowpacks. The fate of Hg deposited during these events is the subject of numerous studies, but its speciation remains unclear, especially in terms of environmentally relevant forms such as bioavailable mercury (BioHg). Here, using a bacterial mer-lux biosensor, we report the fraction of newly deposited Hg at the surface and at the bottom of the snowpack that is bioavailable. Snow samples were collected over a two-month arctic field campaign in 2008. In surface snow, BioHg is related to atmospheric Hg deposition and snow fall events were shown to contribute to higher proportions of BioHg than AMDEs. Based on our data, AMDEs represent a potential source of 20 t.y?1 of BioHg, while wet and dry deposition pathways may provide 135?225 t.y?1 of BioHg to Arctic surfaces.
SN  - 0013-936X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es103016x
N1  - exported from refbase (http://publi.ipev.fr/polar_references/show.php?record=3341), last updated on Sun, 28 Jul 2024 07:21:57 +0200
ID  - LaroseCatherine2011
ER  -