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Mercury Sources, Emissions, Distribution and Bioavailability along an Estuarine Gradient under Semiarid Conditions in Northeast Brazil

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  • Victor Lacerda Moura

    (Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Costeira, Instituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Universidade Federal do Ceará-UFC, Av. da Abolição, 3207, Meireles, Fortaleza CEP 60165-081, CE, Brazil)

  • Luiz Drude de Lacerda

    (Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Costeira, Instituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Universidade Federal do Ceará-UFC, Av. da Abolição, 3207, Meireles, Fortaleza CEP 60165-081, CE, Brazil)

Abstract

In the semiarid coast of northeast Brazil, climate change and changes in land use in drainage basins affect river hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry, modifying the estuarine environment and its biogeochemistry and increasing the mobilization of mercury (Hg). This is particularly relevant to the largest semiarid-encroached basin of the region, the Jaguaribe River. Major Hg sources to the Jaguaribe estuary are solid waste disposal, sewage and shrimp farming, the latter emitting effluents directly into the estuary. Total annual emission reaches 300 kg. In that estuary, the distribution of Hg in sediment and suspended particulate matter decreases seaward, whereas dissolved Hg concentrations increase sharply seaward, suggesting higher mobilization at the marine-influenced, mangrove-dominated portion of the estuary, mostly in the dry season. Concentrations of Hg in rooted macrophytes respond to Hg concentrations in sediment, being higher in the fluvial endmember of the estuary, whereas in floating aquatic macrophytes, Hg concentrations followed dissolved Hg concentrations in water and were also higher in the dry season. Animals (fish and crustaceans) also showed higher concentrations and bioaccumulation in the marine-influenced portion of the estuary. The variability of Hg concentrations in plants and sediments agrees with continental sources of Hg. However, Hg fractionation in water and contents in the animals respond to higher Hg availability in the marine-dominated end of the estuary. The results suggest that the impact of anthropogenic sources on Hg bioavailability is modulated by regional and global environmental changes and results from a conjunction of biological, ecological and hydrological characteristics. Finally, increasing aridity due to global warming, observed in northeast Brazil, as well as in other semiarid littorals worldwide, in addition to increased water overuse, augment Hg bioavailability and environmental risk and exposure of the local biota and the tradition of human populations exploiting the estuary’s biological resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Lacerda Moura & Luiz Drude de Lacerda, 2022. "Mercury Sources, Emissions, Distribution and Bioavailability along an Estuarine Gradient under Semiarid Conditions in Northeast Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:17092-:d:1008327
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    1. Shafaqat Ali & Zohaib Abbas & Muhammad Rizwan & Ihsan Elahi Zaheer & İlkay Yavaş & Aydın Ünay & Mohamed M. Abdel-DAIM & May Bin-Jumah & Mirza Hasanuzzaman & Dimitris Kalderis, 2020. "Application of Floating Aquatic Plants in Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Polluted Water: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-33, March.
    2. Dana K. Sackett & W. Gregory Cope & James A. Rice & D. Derek Aday, 2013. "The Influence of Fish Length on Tissue Mercury Dynamics: Implications for Natural Resource Management and Human Health Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-22, February.
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