Authors: De Stefano, Concette; Gianguzza, Antonio; Pettignano, Alberto; Sammartano, Silvio; Sciarrino, Salvatore

Source: Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability, Volume 19, Number 3, September 2007 , pp. 129-140(12)

Publisher: Science Reviews 2000 Ltd

Abstract:

The sequestering capacity of synthetic and naturally occurring polycarboxylate ligands towards monomethylmercury(II) was evaluated by stability quantitative data on the interaction of CH₃Hg⁺ with different molecular weight synthetic polyacrylates (2 and 20 kDa average M.wt) and alginate (70-100 kDa) extracted from brown algae Macrocystis pyrifera. The influence of ionic medium was evaluated by measurements on the CH₃Hg⁺-polyacrylate systems in NaNO₃ medium at different ionic strengths (0.10, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 mol L⁻¹), and a Debye-Hückel type equation was used for the dependence of complex formation constants on ionic strength. Measurements on the CH₃Hg⁺ - alginate system were carried out at I=0.10 mol L⁻¹ in NaNO₃ medium. By using the stability data, the sequestering capacity of both ligands towards monomethylmercury(II) was determined at different pH values. Results obtained show that the binding ability of polyacrylic ligands (PAA) is stronger than the alginate (AA), following the trend PAA (20 kDa)>PAA (2 kDa)>AA.

Keywords: monomethylmercury; sequestration by organic matter; polyacrylic and alginic acids; speciation; equilibrium analysis; complex species formation

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3184/095422907X245056

Affiliations: 1: Dipartimento di Chimica Inorganica, Chimica Analitica e Chimica Fisica. Università di Messina, Salita Sperone 31, I-98166, Messina (Vill. S. Agata), Italy

Publication date: 2007-09-24

More about this publication?

• Chemical Speciation & Bioavailability covers a rapidly expanding area in environmental science.

  Research on the interactions between the chemical forms and behaviour of toxic compounds and their subsequent biological uptake, metabolism and ecological fate involves many scientific fields. These studies are often published in discipline-specific journals, leading to inadequate review and information scatter. This situation hinders both the development of an international community of experienced colleagues and the open flow of information and discussion. Additionally, the importance of speciation and bioavailability research to the development of pollution law and control technologies is being increasingly appreciated by environmental regulatory agencies throughout the world.

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