Distribution and partitioning of mercury in the Pradue bay, Map Ta Phut industrial estate, Rayong province, Thailand

Abstract

This study was aimed to assess the distribution and partitioning of mercury (Hg) in the Pradue bay toward coastal area of Map Ta Phut industrial estate, Rayong province, Thailand. It was found that the concentrations of Hg were reported by total, total dissolved and particulate Hg, which showed ranging from 7.18 to 63.77 ng/L, 2.30 to 5.29 ng/L, and 0.23 to 1.38 g/g of dry weight, respectively, where the concentrations of Hg in the sediment samples were ranged from 0.09 to 0.91 g/g of dry weight. It was observed that the concentrations of particulate Hg and total Hg were decreased in the coastal area. The results showed that the particulate Hg was a major fraction found in the bay area, which accounted for the variation of the total Hg concentration from 82.6 to 96.4%. The partitioning coefficient (KD) varied from 0.4 X 105 to 6.5 X 105 L/kg, which could be effected from the sorption/desorption processes that played the important role in particle-water interaction of Hg. The concentrations of particulate Hg were positively correlated with the concentrations of Hg in the sediment. This study was emphasized that the dominate rate of suspended particulate matter (SPM) loading in the water might support the scavenging of Hg and deposited it into the sediment in the bay area.