Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Chemosphere. 2011 Oct;85(5):883-91. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.06.110. Epub 2011 Aug 15.
Mercury presents a potential risk to the environment and humans, especially in its methylated form. It is among the highest priority environmental pollutants. River Idrijca (Slovenia) is highly contaminated with mercury due to past mercury mining. The aim of this work was to investigate whether the periphyton community in rivers such as Idrijca is a suitable indicator of Hg pollution and of changes in mercury methylation and could serve as an early warning system of increased input of MeHg in the food chain. Periphyton is the only site of primary production in temperate torrential rivers such as Idrijca and is therefore an important link in the food chain. It is also a potential site of Hg accumulation and its introduction to higher trophic levels. Our aim was to assess the response of the periphyton to seasonal and spatial variations in mercury levels and to evaluate its potential as an early warning system of changes in mercury reactivity and mobilization The results indicate that periphyton in a torrential river is too complex and unpredictable to be used as a sole indicator of mercury concentrations and changes in the river. Nevertheless, it can complement environmental measurements due to its importance in the riverine food web.
汞对环境和人类构成潜在风险，尤其是其甲基化形式。它是优先考虑的环境污染物之一。由于过去的汞矿开采，伊德里察河（斯洛文尼亚）受到高度汞污染。本工作旨在研究伊德里察河等河流中的周丛生物群落是否是 Hg 污染以及汞甲基化变化的合适指标，并能作为食物链中 MeHg 输入增加的早期预警系统。周丛生物是伊德里察等温带湍急河流中唯一的初级生产场所，因此是食物链中的重要环节。它也是汞积累及其向更高营养级转移的潜在场所。我们的目的是评估周丛生物对汞水平季节性和空间变化的响应，并评估其作为汞反应性和可移动性变化早期预警系统的潜力。结果表明，湍急河流中的周丛生物过于复杂和不可预测，不能单独用作汞浓度和河流变化的指标。然而，由于其在河流食物网中的重要性，它可以补充环境测量。
