Interim Results from a Study of the Impacts of Tin(II) Based Mercury Treatment in a Small Stream Ecosystem: Tims Branch, Savannah River Site
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Mercury (Hg) has been identified as a 'persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic' pollutant with widespread impacts throughout North America and the world (EPA. 1997a, 1997b, 1998a, 1998b, 2000). Although most of the mercury in the environment is inorganic Hg, a small proportion of total Hg is transformed through the actions of aquatic microbes into methylmercury (MeHg). In contrast to virtually all other metals, MeHg biomagnifies or becomes increasingly concentrated as it is transferred through aquatic food chains so that the consumption of mercury contaminated fish is the primary route of this toxin to humans. For this reason, the ambient water quality criterion (AWQC) for mercury is based on a fish tissue endpoint rather than an aqueous Hg concentration, as the tissue concentration (e.g., < 0.3 μg/g fillet) is considered to be a more consistent indicator of exposure and risk (EPA, 2001).
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 1038050
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-STI--2012-00202
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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