Bio-Mobilization of Mercury by Selected Mercury-Resistant Strain and Indigenous Bacteria at Oak Ridge Site
Abstract
Mercury occurs in various forms in the environment. Methylmercury (MeHg) is a highly toxic form that causes the most ecological and human health concerns due to its tendency to biomagnify through food webs. While the microbial mediated processes would facilitate the mobilization of mercury at contaminated sites and could be applied for potential remediation. In this work, one mercury-resistant bacteria strain (i.e., MRS-2) and two indigenous bacteria mixed cultures (i.e., derived from the Oak Ridge soil/sediment samples) were selected to study the bio-mobilization of mercury. Two major mechanisms for the bio-mobilization were investigated, including bio-adsorption of mercury onto the bacterial surface and microbial mediated reduction related gaseous mercury emission. The bio-adsorption isotherm, kinetics, and the effect of ionic strength were studied by batch experiments. The microbial mediated reduction with different carbon sources was studied by a series of bench-scale mesocosms. PCR analysis was applied to assaying the microbial community change before/after the reduction experiments. Experimental results indicated the mercury-resistant strain had better performance in the bio-mobilization of mercury. Furthermore, the impact of bio-mobilization on the transport of mercury the Oak Ridge Site was studied using column experiments.
Keywords: Mercury, Adsorption, Reduction, PCR, Transport.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMH089.0005L
- Keywords:
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- 0478 Pollution: urban;
- regional and global;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0481 Restoration;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 1803 Anthropogenic effects;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1847 Modeling;
- HYDROLOGY