Examination of mercury contamination from a recent coal ash spill into the Dan River, North Carolina, United States
| Autor: | Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui, Songnian Liu, Peijia Ku, Ashley S. Williams, Parke A. Rublee, Anne E. Hershey, Matthew R. Monteverde, Glenn E. Woerndle, Kimber B. Corson |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Inorganic mercury
Environmental remediation Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Chemical Hazard Release 0211 other engineering and technologies chemistry.chemical_element 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences complex mixtures Environmental pollution chemistry.chemical_compound Rivers North Carolina Animals GE1-350 Methylmercury Ecosystem 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Riparian zone 021110 strategic defence & security studies geography geography.geographical_feature_category Dan River Aquatic ecosystem Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Fishes technology industry and agriculture Sediment General Medicine Mercury Methylmercury Compounds respiratory system Pollution Coal ash Bioaccumulation United States Mercury (element) Environmental sciences chemistry TD172-193.5 Environmental chemistry Fly ash Environmental science Water Pollutants Chemical Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Vol 208, Iss, Pp 111469-(2021) |
| ISSN: | 0147-6513 |
| Popis: | Coal ash spills occasionally occur due to the accidental failure of surface impoundments, and toxic metal-laden ash can pose a serious health threat to adjacent aquatic ecosystems. Here, we performed an investigation into longitudinal variations of mercury (Hg) contamination in the Dan River (North Carolina, United States) about 17 and 29 months after a February 2014 coal ash spill incident, in which the reported Hg concentrations in the spilled coal ash (210 ng/g) were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the river sediments (2–61 ng/g). We examined total Hg (THg) and methyl Hg (MeHg) in sediments from 0 to 65 km downstream of the spill, and found that most of the variations of THg and MeHg in surface sediments (0–16 cm) could be well accounted by the organic matter content and appeared to be not contaminated by Hg derived from coal ash. In examining MeHg bioaccumulation in invertebrates (aquatic and riparian) and fish in the Dan River and fish in a reservoir downstream of Dan River, we found no evidence of elevated MeHg bioaccumulation due to the 2014 coal ash spill. Thus, we concluded that Hg contamination from the coal ash spill is largely absent in the Dan River for both surface sediments and biota within the first three years of spill (until 2017), even though the majority of coal ash may be buried deeper in the sediment in the river channel and/or the downstream reservoir. Alternatively, the Hg associated with the coal ash is largely not bioavailable for extensive microbial Hg methylation. The findings provide useful insights into remediation strategies for this incident and other coal ash spills. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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