Identification of multiple mercury sources to stream sediments near Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Donovan, Patrick M.; Blum, Joel D.; Demers, Jason D.; Gu, Baohua; Brooks, Scott C.; Peryam, John

doi:10.1021/es4046549

Title: Identification of multiple mercury sources to stream sediments near Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Journal Article · Mon Mar 03 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es4046549· OSTI ID:1239629

Donovan, Patrick M. ^[1]; Blum, Joel D. ^[1]; Demers, Jason D. ^[1]; Gu, Baohua ^[2]; Brooks, Scott C. ^[2]; Peryam, John ^[3]

Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

In this paper, sediments were analyzed for total Hg concentration (THg) and isotopic composition from streams and rivers in the vicinity of the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y12) in Oak Ridge, TN (USA). In the stream directly draining Y12, where industrial releases of mercury (Hg) have been documented, high THg (3.26 to 60.1 μg/g) sediments had a distinct Hg isotopic composition (δ²⁰²Hg of 0.02 ± 0.15‰ and Δ¹⁹⁹Hg of -0.07 ± 0.03‰; mean ± 1SD, n=12) compared to sediments from relatively uncontaminated streams in the region (δ²⁰²Hg = -1.40 ± 0.06‰ and Δ¹⁹⁹Hg of –0.26 ± 0.03‰; mean ± 1SD, n=6). Additionally, several streams that are nearby but do not drain Y12 had sediments with intermediate THg (0.06 to 0.21 μg/g) and anomalous δ²⁰²Hg (as low as -5.07‰). We suggest that the low δ²⁰²Hg values in these sediments provide evidence for the contribution of an additional Hg source to sediments, possibly derived from atmospheric deposition. In sediments directly downstream of Y12 this third Hg source is not discernible and the Hg isotopic composition can be largely explained by the mixing of low THg sediments with high THg sediments contaminated by Y12 discharges.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0007042

OSTI ID:: 1239629

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 48, Issue 7; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 38 works

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