caa a22 4500 606199853 CHVBK 20210128100940.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10653-014-9628-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10653-014-9628-1 Mercury concentrations and distribution in soil, water, mine waste leachates, and air in and around mercury mines in the Big Bend region, Texas, USA [Elektronische Daten] [John Gray, Peter Theodorakos, David Fey, David Krabbenhoft] Samples of soil, water, mine waste leachates, soil gas, and air were collected from areas mined for mercury (Hg) and baseline sites in the Big Bend area, Texas, to evaluate potential Hg contamination in the region. Soil samples collected within 300m of an inactive Hg mine contained elevated Hg concentrations (3.8-11µg/g), which were considerably higher than Hg in soil collected from baseline sites (0.03-0.05µg/g) distal (as much as 24km) from mines. Only three soil samples collected within 300m of the mine exceeded the probable effect concentration for Hg of 1.06µg/g, above which harmful effects are likely to be observed in sediment-dwelling organisms. Concentrations of Hg in mine water runoff (7.9-14ng/L) were generally higher than those found in springs and wells (0.05-3.1ng/L), baseline streams (1.1-9.7ng/L), and sources of drinking water (0.63-9.1ng/L) collected in the Big Bend region. Concentrations of Hg in all water samples collected in this study were considerably below the 2,000ng/L drinking water Hg guideline and the 770ng/L guideline recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to protect aquatic wildlife from chronic effects of Hg. Concentrations of Hg in water leachates obtained from leaching of mine wastes varied widely from <0.001 to 760µg of Hg in leachate/g of sample leached, but only one leachate exceeded the USEPA Hg industrial soil screening level of 31µg/g. Concentrations of Hg in soil gas collected at mined sites (690-82,000ng/m3) were highly elevated compared to soil gas collected from baseline sites (1.2-77ng/m3). However, air collected from mined areas at a height of 2m above the ground surface contained concentrations of Hg (4.9-64ng/m3) that were considerably lower than Hg in soil gas from the mined areas. Although concentrations of Hg emitted from mine-contaminated soils and mine wastes were elevated, persistent wind in southwest Texas disperses Hg in the air within a few meters of the ground surface. The Author(s), 2014 Mercury nationallicence Soil nationallicence Stream water nationallicence Air nationallicence Leachates nationallicence Gray John U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut Theodorakos Peter U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut Fey David U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut Krabbenhoft David U.S. Geological Survey, 8505 Research Way, 53562, Middleton, WI, USA aut Environmental Geochemistry and Health Springer Netherlands 37/1(2015-02-01), 35-48 0269-4042 37:1<35 2015 37 10653 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9628-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9628-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Gray John U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Theodorakos Peter U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Fey David U.S. Geological Survey, MS 973, Federal Center, 80225, Denver, CO, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Krabbenhoft David U.S. Geological Survey, 8505 Research Way, 53562, Middleton, WI, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Geochemistry and Health Springer Netherlands 37/1(2015-02-01), 35-48 0269-4042 37:1<35 2015 37 10653