Impacts of Reservoir Creation on the Biogeochemical Cycling of Methyl Mercury and Total Mercury in Boreal Upland Forests

The FLooded Upland Dynamics Experiment (FLUDEX) at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northwest Ontario was designed to test the hypothesis that methylmercury (MeHg) production in reservoirs is related to the amount, and subsequent decomposition, of flooded organic matter. Three upland forest sites that varied in the amounts of organic carbon stored in vegetation and soils (Low C, 30,870 kg C ha⁻¹; Medium C, 34,930 kg C ha⁻¹; and High C, 45,860 kg C ha⁻¹) were flooded annually from May to September with low-organic carbon, low-MeHg water pumped from a nearby lake. Within five weeks of flooding, MeHg concentrations in the reservoir outflows exceeded those in reservoir inflows and remained elevated for the duration of the experiment, peaking at 1.60 ng L⁻¹ in the Medium C reservoir. We estimated the net production of MeHg in each reservoir by calculating annual changes in pools of MeHg stored in flooded soils, periphyton, zooplankton, and fish. Overall, there was an initial pulse of MeHg production (range = 120–1590 ng m⁻² day⁻¹) in all FLUDEX reservoirs that lasted for 2 years, after which time net demethylation (range = 360–1230 ng MeHg degraded m⁻² day⁻¹) began to reduce the pools of MeHg in the reservoirs, but not back to levels found prior to flooding. Rates of MeHg production were generally related to the total amount of organic carbon flooded to create the reservoirs. Large increases in MeHg stores in soils compared to those in water and biota indicate that flooded soils were the main sites of MeHg production. This study should assist hydroelectric utilities and government agencies in making informed decisions about selecting sites for future reservoir development to reduce MeHg contamination of the reservoir fisheries.     

Sulfate-reducing Bacteria and Mercury Methylation in the Water Column of the Lake 658 of the Experimental Lake Area

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) appear to be the main mediators of mercury methylation in sediments, which are deemed to be major sites of methylmercury (MMHg) production. However, recent studies have also found significant MMHg formation in the water column of lakes across North America. To investigate the potential involvement of SRB in mercury methylation in the water column of a stratified oligotrophic lake, two of the main families of SRB (Desulfobacteraceae and Desulfovibrionaceae) were quantified by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction of the 16S rRNA gene. MMHg production was measured applying a stable isotope technique using ¹⁹⁸HgCl. Methylation assays were conducted at different water depths and under stimulation with lactate, acetate or propionate and inhibition with molybdate. Desulfobacteraceae and Desulfovibrionaceae16S rRNA gene copies in control samples accounted for 0.05% to 33% and <0.01% to 1.12% of the total bacterial 16S rRNA, respectively. MMHg formation was as high as 0.3 ng L^?1 day^?1 and largest in lactate amended samples. Strain isolation was only achieved in lactate amended media with all isolated strains being SRB belonging to the Desulfovibrio genus according to their 16S rRNA gene sequence. Isolated strains methylated between 0.06 and 0.2% of ¹⁹⁸HgCl per day. Acetate and propionate did not stimulate mercury methylation as much as lactate. Two strains were identified as Desulfovibrio sp. 12ML1 (FJ865472) and Desulfovibrio sp. 12ML3 (FJ865473), based on partial sequences of their 16S rRNA and DSR gene. Methylation assays and bacteria characterization suggest that Desulfovibrionaceae is an important mercury methylators in Lake 658. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the free supplemental file.     

网箱养鱼对水库水体甲基汞的影响

分别在2010年9月(暖季)和2011年3月(冷季),选取乌江渡水库网箱养鱼区和距离网箱100～200m的对照区(库心),对水体不同形态汞及其他相关参数进行了研究,以揭示网箱养鱼对水库汞地球化学行为的影响。结果表明,暖季养鱼区水体总汞含量为(2.04±0.53)ng·L-1,甲基汞含量为(0.146±0.231)ng·L-1,对照区水体总汞含量为(3.33±2.39)ng·L-1,甲基汞含量为(0.380±0.577)ng·L-1;冷季养鱼区水体总汞含量为(3.04±1.53)ng·L-1,甲基汞含量为(0.047±0.028)ng·L-1,对照区水体总汞含量为(3.24±1.23)ng·L-1,甲基汞含量为(0.046±0.013)ng·L-1;养鱼区与对照区总汞含量(n=35,P=0.875)、甲基汞含量(n=35,P=0.091)均无显著差异。结合对养鱼区与对照区水体中其他各参数(总氮、总磷、溶解性有机碳、叶绿素、温度、溶解氧等)综合分析表明,由于水库蓄水与泄水发电对水库水体的扰动及水库自身水体的交换作用导致水体呈混匀状态,网箱养鱼造成的水体甲基化程度差异不显著;而水库水体季节性分层造成的水体底部厌氧和温度的变化是影响水体甲基汞含量及分布的主要因素之一。     

Improving the Development and Use of Biologically Based Dose Response Models (BBDR) in Risk Assessment

Biologically based dose-response (BBDR) models predict health outcomes (response) resulting from the presence of a toxicant at a biological target (dose). The benefits of BBDR models are many, and research programs are increasingly focusing on mechanistic research to support model development; however, progress has been slow. Impediments to progress include the complexity of dose response modeling, the need for a multidisciplinary team and consistent funding support, and difficulty in identifying and extracting the needed data. Of immediate concern is the lack of transparency of published models to the supporting data and literature, difficulty in accessing model code and simulation conditions sufficient to allow independent replication of results, and absence of well-defined quality criteria. Suggestions are presented to improve the development and use of BBDR models in risk assessment and to address the above limitations. Examples from BBDR models for methylmercury neurotoxicity and 5-fluorouracil embryotoxicity are presented to illustrate the suggestions including what kinds of databases are needed to support model development and transparency, quality assurance for modeling, and how the internet can advance database development and collaboration within the biological modeling community.     

Mercury biotransformations and their potential for remediation of mercury contamination

Bacterially mediated ionic mercury reduction to volatile Hg⁰ was shown to play an important role in the geochemical cycling of mercury in a contaminated freshwater pond. This process, and the degradation of methylmercury, could be stimulated to reduce the concentration of methylmercury that is available for accumulation by biota. A study testing the utility of this approach is described.Abbreviations Hg^R inorganic mercury resistance - Org-Hg organomercury - Org-Hg^R organomercury resistance - SRB sulfate reducing bacteria - Methyl-B12 methylcobalamine     

A Methodology to Assess the Amounts of Pesticidal Mercury Used Historically in New Jersey

A methodology using existing, accessible public information is presented for the estimation of amounts of mercury that may have been applied to soils historically on agricultural land in the U.S. Estimations based on national agricultural consumption data reported by the Bureau of Mines can be apportioned further to the state and county level. For comparison, estimates using crop recommendations are presented, which can be considered to provide an upper-bound estimate of amounts potentially used on individual farms. In New Jersey, approximately 318,000?lb of mercury as an active ingredient could have been applied on approximately 150,000 acres of cropland and golf courses in the period 1921 to 1990. Based on crop recommendations, as much as 600,000 to over 1,000,000?lb of mercury could have been applied.     

Mercury translocation in and evaporation from soil. II. Evaporation of mercury from podzolized soil profiles treated with HgCl2 and CH3HgCl

Mercury evaporation from soil columns of an iron humus podzol treated with various amounts of HgCl₂ and CH₃HgCl was measured over 3500 h. The effects of rain acidity, rain duration, and rain intensity were investigated. Hg evaporation from CH₃HgCl‐treated soil columns seems to be a biologically determined process. Hg evaporation from HgO₂‐treated soil probably is mainly an abiotic process, following a pseudo first‐order reaction with rapidly decreasing evaporation rate due to a decreasing amount of available Hg. The added Hg compounds were transformed to highly volatile Hg⁰ and/or (CH₃)₂Hg. The Hg evaporation rate decreased with increasing rain acidity, which may cause accumulation of Hg in the soil. No effects of rain duration and rain intensity were found.     

Bioaccessibility of Mercury in Soils

The initial risk assessment for the East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) floodplain in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a superfund site heavily contaminated with mercury, was based on a reference dose for mercuric chloride. Mercuric chloride, however, is a soluble mercury compound not expected to be present in the floodplain, which is frequently saturated with water. Previous investigations had suggested mercury in the EFPC floodplain was less soluble and therefore potentially less bioavailable than mercuric chloride, possibly making the results of the risk assessment unduly conservative. A bioaccessibility study, designed to measure the amount of mercury available for absorption in a child's digestive tract (the most critical risk pathway endpoint), was performed on 20 soils from the EFPC floodplain. The average bioac-cessible mercury for the 20 soils was 5.3%, compared with 100% of the mercuric chloride subjected to the same conditions. The alteration of the procedure to more closely mimic conditions in the digestive tract did not significantly change the results. Therefore, the use of a reference dose for mercuric chloride at EFPC, and potentially at other mercury-contaminated sites, without incorporating a corresponding bioavailability adjustment factor may overestimate the risk posed by the site.     

Isolation and Characterization of Mercury Resistant Bacillus sp. from Soils with an Extensive History as Substrates for Mercury Extraction in Mexico

Metal phytoextraction assisted by bacteria plays an important role in bioremediation systems. In this work, mercury-resistant bacterial strains were isolated from soils with high levels of mercury (San Joaquin, Queretaro State, Mexico) and identified as Bacillus sp. based on the 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. The bacterial strains were found to exhibit different multiple mercury-resistance and carbon source utilization characteristics. The mercury reduction ability was tested through a volatilization assay. The bacterial isolates were also evaluated for their ability to promote growth and mercury uptake in tomato plants. In a roll towel assay, the maximum vigor index of tomato plants was obtained with the inoculation of Bacillus sp. A2, A12, B11, B15 and C1, while in a pot assay, the maximum vigor index was obtained with the inoculation of Bacillus sp. A6, A7 and B20, compared with un-inoculated controls in the presence of HgCl₂. Maximum Hg accumulation in the roots and shoots of tomato plants was obtained only with Bacillus sp. A7 in the roll towel assay, whereas in the pot assay, maximum accumulation was obtained with Bacillus sp. A12 compared with un-inoculated controls. Our results show that mercury accumulation in tissue is enhanced by these plant growth promoting bacterial strains, which recommends their possible use as microbe-assisted phytoremediation systems in mercury-polluted soils.     

An Investigation of Total Mercury in Sediments and Interstitial Water in the North Fork Holston River below Saltville,Virginia, USA

The North Fork Holston River (NFHR) is historically renowned for having one of the most diversity rich unionid populations (Unionidae) worldwide; however, in recent decades, drastic reductions in mussel diversity, abundance, and recruitment have been documented. Unionid declines have been blamed on anthropogenic influences, specifically mercury-contaminated wastewater from a now closed chlorine-alkali plant in Saltville, VA. The objective of this research was to evaluate total mercury (Hg) contamination of sediments and interstitial waters in the NFHR beginning below Saltville and downstream for approximately 50 river miles. Mercury contaminated sediments and interstitial water were found downstream of the closed plant with the highest sediment concentration of 2.82 mg/kg dry weight total Hg found at river mile (rm) 80 and the highest interstitial water value at rm 30.4 with 2.1 μg/l. After 60-d in situ testing, total Hg concentrations in Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) tissues were found to range from 0.016 to 0.13 mg/kg, while resident clams had Hg concentrations of 0.094 and 0.11 mg/kg wet weight. Although chronic toxicity was not observed, based on Corbicula growth and survival tests, nor in testing with cladocerans, mercury contamination is still a persistent problem at sites in the NFHR below the closed plant with negative correlations between mean clam growth and sediment Hg concentrations.     

Mercury translocation in and evaporation from soil. III. quantification of evaporation of mercury from podzolized soil profiles treated with Hg Cl

Mercury evaporation from undisturbed iron‐humus podzol lysimeters was measured over 3 months after treatment with HgCl₂ spiked with radioactive ²⁰³Hg. The relative evaporation rate from HgCl₂ treated soils followed the sum of two exponential functions. Because evaporation asymptotically approaches zero with time, the integral of the fit curve represents the evaporative loss in percent of atmospheric deposition. For the soil investigated, about 5% of atmospheric Hg deposition was reemitted into the atmosphere. It is hypothesized that mercury evaporation can decrease the leaching of mercury in and from soil significantly; this effect is probably increasing with decreasing rain acidity or soil acidity. Mercury deposited as soluble salt remains susceptible to reemission to air for 300 d after incorporation into the soil matrix. Indications are found that Hg evaporation from soils in geological background areas predominantly derives from recent atmospheric Hg deposition and not from geological sources.     

An Objective Uncertainty Factor Adjustment for Methyl mercury Pharmacokinetic Variability

While default uncertainty factor (UF) adjustments have been proposed for pharmacokinetic variability in the derivation of Reference Doses (RfDs), few attempts have been made to derive chemical-specific UFs for such variability. In recent epidemiologic data on the neuro-developmental effects of MeHg, Hg concentration in either hair or blood is the point-of-departure for RfD derivation. The application of a pharmacokinetic model to derive an intake dose from the measured biomarker concentration allows examination of the inter-individual variability in the relationship between intake dose and biomarker concentration through specification of the variability in model parameters. Three independent studies of this variability, using different models and/or different parameter values, are compared. While differences in central tendency estimates give different predictions of the intake dose corresponding to a given biomarker concentration, normalization of the central tendency estimate resulted in strong agreement among the studies. Starting with Hg concentration in hair or blood, and dividing a central tendency estimate of the corresponding intake dose by a UF of 2 to 3, accounts for 95 to 99% of the variability in the relationship between intake dose and biomarker concentration. This variability, however, encompasses only a portion of the maternal ingestion-to-fetal brain pathway. It is therefore likely that this UF underestimates the overall pharmacokinetic variability in this pathway.     

Concentrations of Lead,Cadmium, and Mercury in Halfbeaks (Hyporhampus affinis) from the East Java Coast,Indonesia and Human Health Hazard

The objectives of this study were to measure the levels of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the muscle tissues of halfbeaks (Hyporhampus affinis) captured at five stations along the East Java coast, Indonesia. This fish is one of the important species and consumed by local people as a cheap source of protein. We evaluated the hazard level posed by the metals in relation to the maximum residual limit for human consumption and to estimate the weekly intake and compare it with the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). The Pb, Cd, and Hg concentrations in fish at all stations ranged from 0.006 to 0.023 mg/kg, 0.007 to 0.024 mg/kg, and 0.047 to 0.055 mg/kg wet weight, respectively. All samples of halfbeaks collected from this area appear to be safe for human consumption because their metals’ levels are below the permissible limit for human consumption and the maximum weekly intakes are below the recommended values of PTWI.     

离散性状QTL区间定位的最大似然方法

采用最大似然区间定位法对阈模型与一般线性模型的QTL定位效率进行了比较,并对影响离散性状QTL检测效率的主要因素（QTL效应、性状的遗传力和表型发生率）进行了模拟研究,实验设计为多个家系的女儿设计．资源群体大小为500头。研究结果表明：在QTL参数估计及检验功效方面,阈模型方法具有较大的优势,对离散性状QTL定位的效率明显高于LM（Linear Model）方法,定位的准确性也较高。另外,性状遗传力、QTL效应的大小和性状表型发生率对QTL定位的准确度也有直接的影响,随着性状遗传力和表型发生率的提高,随着QTL效应的增大,QTL定位的效率也进一步提高。     

The Efficacy of Dietary Fat Vs. Total Energy Restriction for Weight Loss

Objective : Dietary fat restriction is currently being promoted as a weight loss strategy. However, previous investigations suggest that fat restriction alone may not be more beneficial than total energy restriction for the treatment of obesity. The purpose of this project was to assess whether an energy-restricted or fat-restricted diet was more effective at promoting weight loss, improving eating behaviors, and reducing barriers to dietary adherence. Research Methods and Procedures : Eighty individuals (15 men and 65 women) were randomized into the two treatment conditions. Subjects were 120% to 140% of ideal body weight and 25 years to 45 years old. Treatment consisted of 24 weeks of dietary fat (22 g/day to 26 g/day) or energy restriction (4,186 kJ/day to 5,023 kJ/day), including behavior modification and exercise. Body weight change, dietary intake, eating behaviors, and barriers to adherence were measured at baseline and after treatment. Results : Results show that subjects in the energy-restricted condition lost over twice as much weight as those in the fat-restricted group (11.5 kg vs. 5.2 kg). Additionally, subjects in the low-energy condition had greater improvements in eating behavior scores, enhanced feelings of wellness, a greater distaste for dietary fat, and no more pronounced feelings of deprivation than did those in the fat-restricted condition. Discussion : An energy-restricted diet produces greater short-term weight loss than dietary fat restriction without many of the negative consequences commonly attributed to reducing energy intake.     

Use of Indicators in Ecological Risk Assessments for Persistent,Bioaccumulative Toxicants

This paper synthesizes several presentations on the use of indicators in ecological risk assessments for persistent, bioaccumulative toxicants (PBTs). The presentations were organized around two chemical case studies: (1) mercury, and (2) compounds that exhibit an Ah-receptor based mode-of-action. Presenters summarized the current practice of ecological risk assessment for these compounds and described research on known or suspected impacts. In addition, this paper addresses three special topics that apply broadly to all PBTs: (1) the convergence of ecological assessment and ecological risk assessment, (2) integration of ecological and human health risk assessment, and (3) risk assessments for population-level effects.     

Modification of a Reaction Vessel for the Determination of Total Mercury in Hair by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A classical cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometric (CVAAS) method for the determination of total mercury in blood has been previously adapted for application to samples of human hair. The reaction vessel specified in the original adaptation was, however, large and difficult to use with small hair samples. In the present study, the reaction vessel has been modified and reduced in size and the protocols have been optimized in order to provide an analytical method that is more efficient, less time-consuming, and gives lower blank values than the original adaptation. The optimized method was validated by multiple, independent, replicated assays of certified reference hair samples, and the mean recovery obtained (98.7%) indicated an efficient performance of the digestion and detection processes. The method was applied to the assay of 144 hair samples derived from populations that had or had not been exposed to mercury from environmental sources. The results from all of the samples analyzed were consistent with those published previously for similar samples.     

光敏生物素标记总DNA探针对大豆根瘤菌的检测

以光敏生物素标记慢生型大豆根瘤菌(Bradyrhizobium japonicum)USDA110总DNA作为探针,与快生型大豆根瘤菌杂交时,没有杂交斑点形成,而与慢生型大豆根瘤菌中的部分菌株能形成杂交斑点,表明该探针具有种和部分菌株特异性,用该探针与压碎的根瘤汁液进行DNA杂交,检测USDA110在不灭菌的盆栽土壤中的竞争结瘤能力,发现USDA110在大豆不同生育期的占瘤率为70%～90%。