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Organic mercury, inorganic mercury and total mercury concentrations in phytoplankton (<0.1 mm) and zooplankton (>0.1 mm) collected in Kagoshima Bay, Japan were measured from 2017 to 2019 to estimate the impact of mercury discharged from submarine volcanoes on ecosystems; submarine volcanic activity continues at a depth of 200 m in the inner part of Kagoshima Bay. The total mercury concentrations in phyto- and zooplankton collected by vertical hauling at 0-200 m at just above the submarine volcano were in the range of 0.11-2.0 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.67 mg kg -1 ) and 0.090-0.56 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.21 mg kg -1 ), respectively. These values were one order of magnitude higher than the values in plankton collected in the central part of Kagoshima Bay. Organic mercury concentrations in phyto- and zooplankton were <0.010-0.071 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.028 mg kg -1 ) and 0.012-0.25 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.10 mg kg -1 ), respectively, for the inner part, and <0.010-0.040 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.010 mg kg -1 ) and <0.010-0.025 mg kg -1 (avg. 0.012 mg kg -1 ), respectively, for the central part. The values obtained in the inner part of the bay increased in summer and decreased in winter, which was consistent with changes in seawater mercury concentrations affected by volcanic activity. The organic mercury concentration in zooplankton collected just above the submarine volcano showed a size dependency, and a higher value was observed in the larger size, which suggested that the discharged mercury from the volcano was absorbed and concentrated through the ecosystem., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To determine the long-term dynamics of mercury discharged from Chisso chemical plant between 1932 and 1968, the vertical variation in mercury concentrations in Yatsushiro Sea sediments was studied from 2013 to 2020 at 31 locations and compared to the mercury concentration distribution obtained in 1996. The results suggest that new sedimentation occurred after 1996, but the mercury concentrations at the surface ranged from 0.2 to 1.9 mg kg -1 , which did not decrease significantly over a 20-year period. It was estimated that approximately 17 t of mercury remained in the southern Yatsushiro Sea sediment, which is equivalent to 10-20% of the total mercury discharged between 1932 and 1968. From results of WD-XRF and TOC measurement, it was suggested that mercury in sediment had been transported with suspended particles derived from sludges from the chemical plant and further suggests that the suspended particles derived from the sediment surface layer are still slowly diffusing., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

To elucidate the dynamics of mercury emitted and released by artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activity and to estimate its impact on the ecosystems of the bay, the distribution of mercury in the atmosphere, soil, water, and sediment around Mambulao Bay, Camarines Norte, Philippines, was investigated. The ASGM operations use mercury to extract gold from ore and are located on the east shore side of the bay. Samplings were conducted in August 2017 and September 2018. The samples were used for determination of total mercury (T-Hg) and organic mercury (org-Hg) concentrations, total organic carbon (TOC) content, and chemical composition. The atmospheric mercury concentration on the east shore side, 6.1-25.8 ng m -3 , was significantly higher than the value of 1.4-9.9 ng m -3 observed on the west shore side. The average concentrations of T-Hg in the forest soils of the west shore side and those of the east shore side were 0.081 ± 0.028 mg kg -1 and 0.496 ± 0.439 mg kg -1 , respectively. In the vertical distribution of T-Hg in the soil of the east shore side, a higher concentration was observed near the surface. For the vertical variations in T-Hg in the marine sediment, higher values were observed near the estuary, and the vertical variations in core samples showed an increase in mercury concentration toward the surface. The highest concentration of T-Hg in sediment, 9.5 mg kg -1 , which was 2 orders of magnitude higher than the background levels of this area, was found near the river mouth. The T-Hg, org-Hg, and TOC levels showed a positive correlation, suggesting that the rivers are the main sources of T-Hg and org-Hg in the bay. Although the fish sample containing a mercury content higher than the regulatory level for fish and shellfish of 0.4 mg kg -1 in Japan was only one of 42 samples, the percentage of org-Hg in fish samples was 91 ± 18%. Mercury released into the surroundings by the ASGM activities can be converted into methylmercury and affect the bay's ecosystem., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavior of previously discharged mercury (Hg) released from the Itomuka Hg mine into the surrounding environment, especially into soil. Total-Hg (T-Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), and ethylmercury (EtHg) concentrations in the surface soil at eight sample sites around the mine were 3.8-64.2 mg/kg, 6.0-54.7 μg/kg, and undetected to 4.5 μg/kg, respectively. Core samples collected from seven of the eight sample sites showed that the vertical distribution of T-Hg was the highest in the surface soil layer and decreased rapidly in the lower layers. A strong positive correlation was observed between T-Hg and MeHg concentrations in the core samples; however, the slope of the regression line varied considerably for each core. This suggests that Hg and MeHg were not supplied from the atmosphere simultaneously, but rather that MeHg was produced on-site. Further, the formation of MeHg and EtHg in soil was considered in terms of the total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratio, which is a decomposition index of soil organic matter. The strong positive correlation between T-Hg and MeHg can be attributed to the migration of organic matter containing Hg species to the lower layers. There was no relationship between T-Hg and MeHg at the riverbed sample site because of the high T-Hg in the lower soil layers, suggesting that Hg was supplied by ore at this sample site. These assumptions of the formation change and migration of Hg in soil were supported by the results of the fractionation experiment and the elution test. To understand the current conditions in this area, measurements of Hg in the water, sediment, atmosphere, and plants were also conducted., 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 © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A sensitive determination method for mercury speciation analysis was developed. Four mercury species, mercury ion, methylmercury, ethylmercury, and phenylmercury, were complexed with emetine-dithiocarbamate (emetine-CS(2)), and then injected onto a HPLC instrument coupled with a tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection system. The emetine-CS(2) complexing agent was effectively used to measure the concentration in addition to serving as a separation and detection reagent. The calibration curves for these mercury complexes were linear in the range of 0.050 - 10 μg L(-1) (as Hg). The limit of detection for (emetine-CS(2))(2)Hg, emetine-CS(2)-methylmercury, emetine-CS(2)-ethylmercury, and emetine-CS(2)-phenylmercury were 30, 17, 21, and 22 ng L(-1), respectively. The sensitivity of this method enables the determination of mercury species in water samples at sub-ppb levels. Furthermore, the method was applied to biological samples in combination with acid leaching and liquid-liquid extraction using emetine-CS(2) as an extraction reagent. The determination results were in good agreement with the values of the certified reference materials.

A sensitive method for simultaneous determination of organic and inorganic mercury species has been developed and is presented in this study. The method is based on complex formation of mercury species with the emetine dithiocarbamate (emetine-CS2) ligand, HPLC separation, and tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) chemiluminescence detection. The complexation reactions of the mercury species and emetine-CS2 ligand occurred instantaneously upon the addition of emetine-CS2 solution to the solution containing the mercury species. The complete separation of these complexes was achieved using an ODS column with 20 mM NaH2PO4-acetonitrile (52:48, v/v) containing 30 mM NaClO4 as an ion-pair reagent. The calibration graphs of these complexes were linear in the range from 1–100 µg/L. The detection limits were 0.27 µg/L, 0.33 µg/L, 0.39 µg/L, and 0.17 µg/L for methylmercury, ethylmercury, phenylmercury, and the mercury ion, respectively, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The developed technique was validated by analyzing certified reference materials, CRM7402-a (cod fish, NMIJ) and CE464 (tuna fish, ERM), in combination with sonication-assisted acid leaching and liquid-liquid extraction. The emetine-CS2 ligand has been used for extraction, separation, and detection of mercury species. The results determined using the proposed method were in good agreement with the values of the certified reference materials. The MeHg+ and EtHg+ recoveries for the spiked samples were found to be almost 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wakamiko Proto-Caldera, a submarine volcano, is located at the bottom of the sea in the bay head area of Kagoshima Bay. In Kagoshima Bay, several species of fish with total mercury exceeding the provisional regulation value of 0.40 mg kg−1 were found in the 1970s. The effects of mercury released from submarine volcanoes are suspected. However, the path from volcanic mercury to the broader ecosystem has not yet been clarified. In this study, as the first step to elucidate the impact of volcanic activity on the ecosystems of Kagoshima Bay, seasonal changes in the concentrations of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM), Hg(II), filtered total mercury (FT-Hg), particulate mercury (P-Hg), and mercury in suspended particulate matter (Hg in SPM) in seawater of Kagoshima Bay were tracked every two months from Feb. 2014 to Dec. 2017. The dissolved total mercury (DT-Hg) concentration was calculated by summing the DGM and FT-Hg concentrations. The DT-Hg at the location in the caldera ranged from 0.09 to 6.83 ng L−1 showing higher values in summer compared to winter, that is, in the stratified period. The P-Hg showed similar periodic variation as DT-Hg, and the highest Hg in SPM was 2.15 mg kg−1, which is one order of magnitude higher than that observed at the reference site. The high mercury concentration in SPM suggests the accumulation of dissolved mercury discharged from volcanic activity on SPM. Since mercury loaded on SPM can be taken up by suspension feeders and enter the food chain, the Hg in SPM may be a key factor affecting Hg in fishes in Kagoshima Bay. • Submarine volcano is suspected to be the source of mercury in fish in Kagoshima Bay. • Seasonal change in Hg species in seawater of Kagoshima Bay was followed. • Accumulation of dissolved Hg discharged from volcanic activity on SPM was suggested. • The Hg in SPM may be a key factor affecting Hg in fishes of Kagoshima Bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To estimate the current contamination levels in Minamata Bay, the vertical and horizontal distributions of mercury in the sediment were investigated. Sediment core samples were collected in 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2010 at 12 locations by gravity core sampling in Minamata Bay and Fukuro Bay, which is located in the southern part of Minamata Bay. The average total mercury concentrations during each year in the surface sediment were 2.47–3.34 and 3.50–4.66mgkg−1 for Minamata Bay and Fukuro Bay, respectively; significant variation in the values was not observed during the study period. The total mercury concentration in Fukuro Bay increased with increasing depth and reached a maximum at 8–14cm from the surface and decreased with increasing depth in the deeper layer. In Minamata Bay, the total mercury concentration did not change significantly from the surface to a depth of 10cm and the values were considerably higher than the background level. In the lower layers of the long cores taken from both areas, the total mercury concentration decreased with depth, and the deepest layers exhibited relatively uniform low values. These values can be considered to represent the background concentration in the absence of anthropogenic influence. The depth of the sediment affected by the effluent was estimated to be 20±7cm and 33±4cm for Minamata Bay and Fukuro Bay, respectively. Furthermore, it was estimated from the average concentration and volume of the contaminated layer that approximately 1ton of discharged mercury remained in the sediment of the two bays. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Total-Hg (T-Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in rice grains were measured to understand the MeHg accumulation process. Rice plants were cultivated in Hg2+-spiked non-contaminated soils in experimental pots at three different places. Although soil MeHg concentrations in the pots changed significantly and individually during the rice-growing season, T-Hg concentration of brown rice grain was high at high soil MeHg concentration. In addition, there was no significant variation in T-Hg concentration in brown rice grains from individual panicles or among panicles obtained from the same pot, although the period of growth for each panicle was different. The highest T-Hg concentration of brown rice grains recorded for a panicle was 1.4 ± 0.1 mg kg−1 (n = 8), and the corresponding MeHg ratio was 76%. In addition, the T-Hg and MeHg concentrations in various parts of the brown rice grain—white rice (endosperm), bran, and embryo—were measured. Among the parts of the brown rice grain, the embryo had the highest Hg concentration. Furthermore, Hg concentration in the grain was constant during grain filling. These findings suggest that MeHg formed in soil accumulates in the rice plant during growth and is supplied to the rice grains continuously for the entire duration of the grain development period. • Hg and MeHg levels in rice were studied to clarify the MeHg accumulation process. • Individual panicles did not differ significantly in total Hg concentrations. • Hg concentration of brown rice was over 1 mg kg−1at 10 mg kg−1 spiked Hg2+ in soil. • Of the parts of the rice grain, the embryo had the highest Hg concentration. • The findings suggest that MeHg is supplied to grains throughout grain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]