Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Ul. Powstańców Warszawy 55, Sopot, 81-712, Poland.
Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdańsk, Ul. Piłsudskiego 46, 81-378, Gdynia, Poland.
Mar Environ Res. 2020 Dec;162:105158. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105158. Epub 2020 Sep 24.
Methylmercury (MeHg) is the most toxic and dangerous form of mercury occurring in the environment. MeHg is highly bioaccumulative in organisms and undergoes biomagnification via the food chain. In the Baltic Sea munition dumpsites, methylmercury can be formed from mercury fulminate contained in primary explosives, as environmental conditions there favour methylation. MeHg in analysed sediments ranged from 19 to 2362 pg gd.w., the concentration of mercury (Hg) ranged from 4 to 294 ng g d.w., and the values of MeHg/Hg ratio ranged from 0.1 to 2.0%. The obtained results confirmed that munition dumpsites are a source of mercury. The concentration of MeHg is elevated in a wider area than immediately next to dumped munitions. Presented results suggest that physical processes responsible for sediment and near-bottom water movement are diffusing MeHg signal, making munition dumpsites rather a diffuse source of MeHg than a number of point sources associated with particular munitions.
甲基汞（MeHg）是环境中存在的最具毒性和危险性的汞形态。MeHg 在生物体中具有高度的生物累积性，并通过食物链发生生物放大。在波罗的海的弹药倾倒场，由于那里的环境条件有利于甲基化，可从含在初级炸药中的雷汞形成甲基汞。分析沉积物中的甲基汞含量范围为 19 至 2362 pg gdw，汞（Hg）浓度范围为 4 至 294 ng g dw，甲基汞/汞比值范围为 0.1 至 2.0%。所得结果证实了弹药倾倒场是汞的来源。甲基汞的浓度在比靠近倾倒弹药更远的更大范围内升高。所提出的结果表明，负责沉积物和近底水运动的物理过程正在扩散甲基汞信号，使得弹药倾倒场更像是甲基汞的弥散源，而不是与特定弹药相关的一些点状源。
