Hg concentrations and stable isotope variations in tropical fish species of a gold-mining-impacted watershed in French Guiana.

The aim of the study was to determine if gold-mining activities could impact the mercury (Hg) concentrations and isotopic signatures in freshwater fish consumed by riparian people in French Guiana. Total Hg, MeHg concentrations, and Hg stable isotopes ratios were analyzed in fish muscles from different species belonging to three feeding patterns (herbivorous, periphytophagous, and piscivorous). We compared tributaries impacted by gold-mining activities (Camopi, CR) with a pristine area upstream (Trois-Sauts, TS), along the Oyapock River. We measured δ15N and δ 13C to examine whether Hg patterns are due to differences in trophic level. Differences in δ 15N and δ 13C values between both studied sites were only observed for periphytophagous fish, due to difference of CN baselines, with enriched values at TS. Total Hg concentrations and Hg stable isotope signatures showed that Hg accumulated in fish from both areas has undergone different biogeochemical processes. Δ199Hg variation in fish (-0.5 to 0.2‰) was higher than the ecosystem baseline defined by a Δ199Hg of -0.66‰ in sediments, and suggested limited aqueous photochemical MeHg degradation. Photochemistry-corrected δ202Hg in fish was 0.7‰ higher than the baseline, consistent with biophysical and chemical isotope fractionation in the aquatic environment. While THg concentrations in periphytophagous fish were higher in the gold-mining area, disturbed by inputs of suspended particles, than in TS, the ensemble of Hg isotope shifts in fish is affected by the difference of biotic (methylation/demethylation) and abiotic (photochemistry) processes between both areas and did therefore not allow to resolve the contribution of gold-mining-related liquid Hg(0) in fish tissues. Mercury isotopes of MeHg in fish and lower trophic level organisms can be complementary to light stable isotope tracers.

Quantifying the impacts of artisanal gold mining on a tropical river system using mercury isotopes.

In some locations, artisanal and small-scale gold-mining (ASGM) represents a significant source of anthropogenic Hg to freshwater environments. The Hg released from ASGM can contaminate aquatic fauna and pose health risks to downstream populations. Total Hg (THg) concentrations, speciation, and isotopic compositions were analyzed in water, suspended particulate matter, soil, and bottom sediment samples from pristine areas and in places of active and legacy gold mining along the Oyapock River (French Guiana) and its tributaries. Mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of even Hg isotopes in top soils (Δ200Hg = -0.06 ±â€¯0.02‰, n = 10) implied the uptake of gaseous Hg(0) by plants, rather than wet deposition, as the primary Hg source. Odd isotope MIF was lower in deep soils (Δ199Hg = -0.75 ±â€¯0.03‰, n = 7) than in top soils (Δ199Hg = -0.55 ±â€¯0.15‰, n = 3). This variation could be attributed to differences between the isotopic signatures of modern and pre-industrial atmospheric Hg. Combining a Hg-isotope binary mixing model with a multiple linear regression based on physico-chemical parameters measured in the sediment samples, we determined that active mined creek sediments are contaminated by ASGM activities, with up to 78% of THg being anthropogenic. Of this anthropogenic Hg, more than half (66-74%) originates from liquid Hg(0) that is released during ASGM. The remaining anthropogenic Hg comes from the ASGM-driven erosion of Hg-rich soils into the river. The isotope signatures of anthropogenic Hg in bottom sediments were no longer traceable in formerly mined rivers and creeks.