Waterborne carbon increases threat of environment...(tial to geochemical variables Moreau sa...)

Moreau and colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey, UW-Madison, the University of Colorado and Chapman University chose to look at the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a richly colored brew created as plants and other organic materials decay into a soup of proteins, acids and other compounds. DOC can tint wetlands and streams shades of yellow to dark brown.

DOC has noticeable effects on bacterial mercury processing. "They seem to methylate mercury better with DOC present," says Moreau.

In the current studies, the scientists looked at the effects of DOC samples collected from two different organic-rich environments, a section of the Suwannee River and Florida's Everglades.

"We found that different DOCs have different positive effects on methylation - they both seem to promote mercury methylation, but to different degrees," Moreau explains.

Because DOC is virtually ubiquitous in aqueous environments, its effect on mercury processing may be an important factor in determining mercury bioavailability.

Moreau and his colleagues are now working to understand how DOC promotes methylation. One possibility is that DOC acts indirectly by increasing bacterial growth, while another is that DOC may directly interact with the mercury itself to boost its ability to enter bacteria.

Although mercury already in the environment is there to stay, Moreau says an understanding of what regulates mercury toxicity is critical for developing ecosystem-level management strategies.

"Strategies to deal with methylmercury production [should] lead to hopefully more efficient ways to reduce human consumption of methylmercury and lead to less potential human health problems," he says.

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