The English–Wabigoon River System: II. Suppression of Mercury and Selenium Bioaccumulation by Suspended and Bottom Sediments

Bioaccumulation of 203Hg and 75Se by several members of the food chain, including fish, was followed in large in situ enclosures in the presence and absence of organic-poor sediment. When the sediment was absent, 203Hg was bioaccumulated 8- to 16-fold faster than when it was either suspended in the water or present on the bottom of the enclosures. Mercury-contaminated and uncontaminated sediments were equally effective at reducing the rate of radiolabeled mercury bioaccumulation, apparently by binding the mercury to fine particulates making it less available for methylation and/or bioaccumulation. Based on these results, a mercury ameliorating procedure involving semicontinuous resuspension of organic-poor sediments with downstream deposition onto surface sediments is suggested. The presence of sediments, in the water or on the bottom of enclosures, also reduced radiolabeled selenium bioaccumulation. The degree of inhibition (2- to 10-fold) may have been related to the concentration of organic material in...