Towards a better understanding of ethylmercury in the environment: Addressing propylation derivatization artifact and verifying its occurrence in Chinese wetlands.

Autor: Wu Y; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China., Liu G; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States., Liu X; Shandong Key Laboratory of Environmental Processes and Health, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, PR China., Mao Y; School of Resources & Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, PR China., Guo Y; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China., Liu Y; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China., Zhu L; Shimadzu China Innovation Center, Shimadzu (China) Co. LTD, Beijing 100020, PR China., Yin Y; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; School of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, PR China. Electronic address: ygyin@rcees.ac.cn., Cai Y; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States., Jiang G; Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effect, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; School of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, PR China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Water research [Water Res] 2024 Oct 01; Vol. 263, pp. 122167. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 05.
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122167
Abstrakt: Ethylmercury (EtHg), similar to methylmercury (MeHg), is highly neurotoxic and bioaccumulative. Although recent studies suggested its occurrence in natural soils and sediments, the common propylation derivatization for EtHg analysis might generate EtHg artifacts, potentially leading to its overestimation in environmental samples. Furthermore, the extensive environmental prevalence of EtHg remains unverified, keeping its importance largely uncertain. This study investigated the formation of EtHg artifacts during propylation derivatization, evaluating artifacts formation and recoveries under different extraction methods with real samples, and confirmed the widespread occurrence of EtHg in Chinese wetlands. EtHg artifacts were obviously present during the propylation derivatization and strongly dependent on the levels of Hg 2+ (0.1-10 ng) in the derivatization solution (R² = 0.99), accounting for 1.38-2.14% of Hg 2+ . CuSO 4 -HNO 3 CH 2 Cl 2 extraction (effectively removing Hg 2+ ) combined with propylation derivatization offers excellent recovery (81-86%) and low artifacts (< LOD: 1.98 × 10 -4 ng/g) for EtHg measurement in soils/sediments, with results aligning with those from online solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (R 2 = 0.99). Additionally, we observed the occurrence of EtHg in soil and sediment samples across 14 Chinese wetlands, with concentrations varying from 6.08 to 171 pg/g, similar to MeHg concentrations at some sites. EtHg positively correlates with MeHg, total Hg, and total organic carbon across all samples, indicating a possible biological formation. These findings help better understand and predict the prevalence of EtHg in wetlands and its key role in environmental Hg cycle.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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