Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, CNRS - Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble, 54 Rue Molière, 38400 St Martin d'Hères, France.
Environ Sci Technol. 2011 Mar 15;45(6):2150-6. doi: 10.1021/es103016x. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Polar regions are subject to contamination by mercury (Hg) transported from lower latitudes, severely impacting human and animal health. Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDEs) are an episodic process by which Hg is transferred from the atmospheric reservoir to arctic snowpacks. The fate of Hg deposited during these events is the subject of numerous studies, but its speciation remains unclear, especially in terms of environmentally relevant forms such as bioavailable mercury (BioHg). Here, using a bacterial mer-lux biosensor, we report the fraction of newly deposited Hg at the surface and at the bottom of the snowpack that is bioavailable. Snow samples were collected over a two-month arctic field campaign in 2008. In surface snow, BioHg is related to atmospheric Hg deposition and snow fall events were shown to contribute to higher proportions of BioHg than AMDEs. Based on our data, AMDEs represent a potential source of 20 t.y(-1) of BioHg, while wet and dry deposition pathways may provide 135-225 t.y(-1) of BioHg to Arctic surfaces.
极地地区容易受到汞（Hg）的污染，这些汞是从低纬度地区迁移过来的，严重影响了人类和动物的健康。大气汞消耗事件（AMDEs）是一个汞从大气库转移到北极积雪中的间歇性过程。在这些事件中沉积的汞的命运是许多研究的主题，但它的形态仍然不清楚，特别是在环境相关的形式，如生物可利用汞（BioHg）。在这里，我们使用细菌 mer-lux 生物传感器，报告在雪表面和底部新沉积的 Hg 中生物可利用的部分。雪样是在 2008 年的一个为期两个月的北极野外活动中收集的。在表面雪中，BioHg 与大气 Hg 沉积有关，降雪事件显示比 AMDEs 贡献了更高比例的 BioHg。根据我们的数据，AMDEs 代表了每年 20 吨 BioHg 的潜在来源，而干湿沉积途径可能每年向北极表面提供 135-225 吨 BioHg。
