Raj Kamal Pandey(23MS208)
Significance of the Mercury Pollutant
Mercury is on of the most toxic ,mobilized and bioaccumulative pollutants on earth. It is highly toxic in both
forms (a) elemental; (b) compounds; irrespective of whether inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the
skin.The present total global mercury emissions into the atmosphere are 5000 tonnes per year, of which 80%
are of anthropogenic origin;a lot of of which is released into the environment, a series of cyclic
transformations occur within the air, water, sediments, and soil which increase its disastrous effect on living
beings. It is mostly a neurological poison that causes tremors, intensive changes with loss of hearing, vision,
and affects cognitive thinking, memory, and attention.
Mercury persists in the environment for long periods , all the while changing chemical forms. Mercury is
never removed from the environment; it is just moved to other locations and eventually.
Its effects in relation to Indian context are severe. as it can affect seed’s germination and embryo’s growth .
Mercury poisoning is a major problem in states of Odisha and Tamil Nadu.4 out of 13 sites being urgently
remediated by Central Pollution Control Board are primarily contaminated by mercury.. In order to control
the movement of Basel wastes, the export and import of mercury bearing wastes has been banned under
Schedule 8 of the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003. But elemental
mercury and mercury containing equipments are continues to be freely imported mainly in relation to
mining and chemicals.
Human Exposure pathway
Human exposure occurs mainly through inhalation of elemental mercury vapors during industrial processes
and through consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish(in form of C𝐻3 Hg and THg). Mercury and its
compounds is released as contaminant majorly by the industries into soil (generally due to mining and
chemical industries) and air from the burning of fossil fuels and municipal or medical waste.This mercury
leaches into the ground water and carried by runoffs to surface waterbodies.Atmospheric lifetimes of
inorganic elemental mercury are estimated to be up to two years, while organic methylmercury may stay in
the soils for decades and may get carried by runoffs to water bodies.The major human exposure is from a)
contaminated water consumption and b) consuming fish containing Methylmercury.One of the major
contributers to a) is the leaching of Hg from soil to groundwater ,this phenomenon majorly affects areas
comprising Ganga alluvial planes and those nearby Odisha. b) is driven by partitioning of organic Hg
complexes.
Processes affecting fate of Mercury in the environment
1)The most important role in mercury’s fate is played by Redox reactions and complex formation .The
elemental mercury in atmosphere can further be oxidized(photochemically in presence of sunlight) to H𝑔2+
which can phase partition in to gas form or aerosol form that undergoes wet deposition in soil sediments in
form of H𝑔2 S or in methylated form in water bodies.It can also be adsorbed by atmospheric particles and
undergo dry deposition in soil sediments.The rate of dry deposition directly depends on size of adsorbing
particle. In water bodies H𝑔2+ forms multiple complexes of which C𝐻3 Hg is most abundant formed through
methylation by micro-organisms .The reason being in organometallic species of mercury, the carbon-metal
bonds are stable in water because they are partly covalent and because the hydrolysis reaction, which is
thermodynamically favourable.The concentration of this C𝐻3 Hg hence decides availability of mercury to
biota.
2) Mercury in its elemental form can transported to long distances by atmosphere and hence its concentration
is also a function of meteorological processes.Hg is also transported in minor amounts in soil ,This
transportation depends on sorption of Hg to colloidal organic matter, such as fulvic acids and hydrophilic
compounds and movement of its aerosol form through soil pores.
3)Another process affecting fate of mercury is cellular partitioning of Inorganic Hg from C𝐻3 Hg that leads to
the preferential absorption of later in the food web.
4) Hg can be uptaken by plants by assimilation from topsoil into roots via transpiration stream. Hg availability
for plants is usually low because of its low solubility in the soil solution and it is mainly accumulated in roots
However, the transfer and translocation of Hg(II) and the highly toxic C𝐻3 Hg species from soils to shoots can
occur . Plants can also uptake Hg from the atmosphere which may occur by direct absorption through the
leaves, by means of stomata, or foliar adsorption of wet and dry deposited Hg in elemental form. Thus plants
acts as Hg sinks except for Hg(II) which is re -release int atmosphere by vegetation.
Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transportion
Mercury is mostly bioaccumulated in form of C𝐻3 Hg in aquatic animals.
The increasing concentration of Hg, principally as C𝐻3 Hg, in higher trophic levels of the aquatic food chain
contrasts sharply with that of other trace metals whose concentrations remain constant or decrease with
increasing levels in the aquatic food web , this indicates that one of the causes of bioaccumulation is C𝐻3 Hg
‘s lipid solubility .Other important cause is passive absorption(in plankton cells) of the lipophilic complexes,
mainly HgC𝑙2 and C𝐻3 HgCl ;and cytoplasm loving tendency of C𝐻3 Hg whereas other inorganic complexes
of Hg are associated with membranes hence are not bioaccumulated.
Thus mercury in form of C𝐻3 Hg is lipid soluble and preferentially binds with amino acids, resulting in
retention in animal tissues .The complexes of C𝐻3 Hg are passively uptaken by phytoplankton cells between
inorganic mercury- which is principally membrane bound - and C𝐻3 Hg- which accumulates in the cytoplasm
- lead to a greater assimilation of C𝐻3 Hg during zooplankton grazing. This leads to mercury
bioaccumulation.Plankton’s lie at the lowest marine trophic level,thus generally the concentration of C𝐻3 Hg
thus keeps getting biomagnified at different trophic levels as one moves up the food web.
