title: Mercury speciation in coastal sediments from the central east coast of India by modified BCR method.
abstract: This is the first study to describe distribution and speciation of Hg in coastal sediments from the central east coast of India. The concentrations of Hg in the studied sediments were found to be much lower than the Hg concentration recommended in coastal sediments by the United State Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment for the protection of aquatic life. This study suggests that the interactions between Hg and coastal sediments are influenced by particle size (sand, silt and clay) of the sediments and the total organic carbon (TOC) content in the sediments. It was found that the coastal sediments from the central east coast of India could act as a sink for Hg. The availability of strong uncomplexed-Hg binding sites in the coastal sediments was observed.
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India. Electronic address: pchak@nio.org.
authors.forename: Parthasarathi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India.
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Raghunadh Babu
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India.
authors.forename: Krushna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vudamala
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India.
authors.forename: Darwin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ramteke
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India.
authors.forename: Kartheek
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chennuri
mesh_terms: D005591:Chemical Fractionation / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007194:India; D008628:Mercury / Q000737:chemistry*; D014481:United States; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Coastal sediments; Hg in coastal sediment around India; Mercury distribution; Mercury speciation; Modified BCR method