Mercury species accumulation and distribution in Typha domingensis under real field conditions (Almaden, Spain)

Abstract

Monomethylmercury (MeHg) is one of the most toxic and the most commonly occurring organomercury compound and the

wetlands are one of the main areas of generation of this Hg form. Concretely, it is in the macrophyte root system where better

conditions are given for its generation. However, the knowledge of absorption and subsequent distribution of mercury (Hg) and

monomethylmercury in aquatic plants is still limited. Mercury mining district such as Almadén (Ciudad Real, Spain) is a natural

laboratory where different rivers flow and the species Typha domingensis Pers. is a common macrophyte which grows in their

riverbanks. The aimof the present work is to apply a recently developed method specially designed to analyze Hg species in plant

tissues to the different fractions of T. domingensis under real field conditions and to study the accumulation and distribution of Hg

species (inorganic Hg and MeHg) within the plant. The results proved that whatever Hg species has preference to be accumulated

in the belowground fractions and demonstrated a high efficiency in the accumulation of MeHg.