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Mercury Dynamics in a Warmwater Stream Receiving Municipal Wastewater KENT L. BAINBRIDGE, Graduate Student FRANK M. D'lTRI, Associate Professor THOMAS G. BAHR, Associate Professor Institute of Water Research and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824 INTRODUCTION The potential hazards of mercury released to the environment became dramatically clear during the I950's when small amounts of methylmercurials discharged into the waters of Minamata Bay, Japan, caused an epidemic of poisonings; 121 cases including 46 deaths, among the people of that area (1,2). It was originally assumed that mercury released into an aquatic system would become diluted and/ or adsorbed onto the sediments until it no longer represented an environmental threat. However, investigations subsequent to the Minamata tragedy have demonstrated that both biological methylation and concentration of mercury occur in aquatic ecosystems (3, 4, 5). Most public attention has been focused on industrial mercury pollution. However, the convenient sanitary sewer network offers a large number of people a ready disposal system for unwanted chemicals, including many mercury containing consumer products. These include: the mercury found in water based paints, cosmetics, broken thermometers, mercury amalgam tooth fillings, discarded pharmaceuticals, household and laundry disinfectants, as well as the runoff of mercury fungicides from lawns and gardens. On the average, the mercury concentration in sewage effluent is an order of magnitude greater than the receiving watercourse (6). These data are substantiated by Klein and Goldberg (7) who reported that the mercury concentration in sediments near an ocean outfall of a sewage treatment plant was eight to ten times higher than similar deposits farther from the outfall. Recent studies have reported mercury concentrations in sewage treatment plant effluents ranging from 0.1 to 240 ppb (8, 9, 10, 11). Although the concentration of mercury in sewage treatment plant effluents are higher than the receiving waters, substantial amounts of mercury are adsorbed and removed by the activated sludge process in conventional plants. Andersson (12) found that decayed sludge from Swedish sewage treatment plants contained from 6 to 29 ppm of mercury on a dry weight basis. Recently, Van Loon (13) reported that sludges from Ontario, Canada sewage treatment plants contained from 1 to 35 ppm mercury on a dry weight basis. Therefore, sewage treatment plants appear to play a significant role in reducing the potential release of mercury into the aquatic environment. The objectives of this investigation were threefold: 1) to develop a mercury budget for the East Lansing, Michigan Sewage Treatment Plant; 2) to establish mercury levels in fish, benthos, water and sediments taken from various points along a segment of the Red Cedar River which receives the treated effluent; and 3) to determine if mercury fungicides applied in 1971 to a golf course adjacent to the river contributed to the mercury burden of the river. FIELD SAMPLING Four sampling stations were selected on the Red Cedar River, a small warm water stream which drains into the Grand River in southern Michigan. Sample Stations 2 (SS 2) and 3 (SS 3), respectively, were located immediately downstream from the golf course and sewage treatment plant outfall and station number 1 (SS 1) was designated as the upstream 597
Object Description
Purdue Identification Number | ETRIWC197457 |
Title | Mercury dynamics in a warmwater stream receiving municipal wastewater |
Author |
Bainbridge, Kent L. D'Itri, Frank M. Bahr, Thomas G. |
Date of Original | 1974 |
Conference Title | Proceedings of the 29th Industrial Waste Conference |
Conference Front Matter (copy and paste) | http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/engext,24462 |
Extent of Original | p. 597-607 |
Series | Engineering extension series no. 145 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Date Digitized | 2009-06-05 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
Description
Title | page597 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Transcript | Mercury Dynamics in a Warmwater Stream Receiving Municipal Wastewater KENT L. BAINBRIDGE, Graduate Student FRANK M. D'lTRI, Associate Professor THOMAS G. BAHR, Associate Professor Institute of Water Research and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824 INTRODUCTION The potential hazards of mercury released to the environment became dramatically clear during the I950's when small amounts of methylmercurials discharged into the waters of Minamata Bay, Japan, caused an epidemic of poisonings; 121 cases including 46 deaths, among the people of that area (1,2). It was originally assumed that mercury released into an aquatic system would become diluted and/ or adsorbed onto the sediments until it no longer represented an environmental threat. However, investigations subsequent to the Minamata tragedy have demonstrated that both biological methylation and concentration of mercury occur in aquatic ecosystems (3, 4, 5). Most public attention has been focused on industrial mercury pollution. However, the convenient sanitary sewer network offers a large number of people a ready disposal system for unwanted chemicals, including many mercury containing consumer products. These include: the mercury found in water based paints, cosmetics, broken thermometers, mercury amalgam tooth fillings, discarded pharmaceuticals, household and laundry disinfectants, as well as the runoff of mercury fungicides from lawns and gardens. On the average, the mercury concentration in sewage effluent is an order of magnitude greater than the receiving watercourse (6). These data are substantiated by Klein and Goldberg (7) who reported that the mercury concentration in sediments near an ocean outfall of a sewage treatment plant was eight to ten times higher than similar deposits farther from the outfall. Recent studies have reported mercury concentrations in sewage treatment plant effluents ranging from 0.1 to 240 ppb (8, 9, 10, 11). Although the concentration of mercury in sewage treatment plant effluents are higher than the receiving waters, substantial amounts of mercury are adsorbed and removed by the activated sludge process in conventional plants. Andersson (12) found that decayed sludge from Swedish sewage treatment plants contained from 6 to 29 ppm of mercury on a dry weight basis. Recently, Van Loon (13) reported that sludges from Ontario, Canada sewage treatment plants contained from 1 to 35 ppm mercury on a dry weight basis. Therefore, sewage treatment plants appear to play a significant role in reducing the potential release of mercury into the aquatic environment. The objectives of this investigation were threefold: 1) to develop a mercury budget for the East Lansing, Michigan Sewage Treatment Plant; 2) to establish mercury levels in fish, benthos, water and sediments taken from various points along a segment of the Red Cedar River which receives the treated effluent; and 3) to determine if mercury fungicides applied in 1971 to a golf course adjacent to the river contributed to the mercury burden of the river. FIELD SAMPLING Four sampling stations were selected on the Red Cedar River, a small warm water stream which drains into the Grand River in southern Michigan. Sample Stations 2 (SS 2) and 3 (SS 3), respectively, were located immediately downstream from the golf course and sewage treatment plant outfall and station number 1 (SS 1) was designated as the upstream 597 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
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