528
G.G. Pandit et al.
mercury and methylmercury in a variety of biota. The concentrations of total
mercury and methylmercury were found to vary from 62.5-548 and 20.4344.4 ng/g (d.w.), respectively. The ratio of methylmercury to total mercury
varied from 0.33 to 0.97 in different species. Species such as crab, prawn and cat
fish, which are bottom feeders, showed a higher ratio of methylmercury to total
mercury as compared to mid-column feeder species (dhoma, boi and black
fish).
5
Conclusions
Thane creek is one of the most mercury-polluted creeks in the Bombay region.
The spatial profile of total mercury in Thane creek water on the third cruise
which was arranged in May 1995, showed lower concentrations (0.03-0.3 ~lg!l)
due to control measures adopted by the industries based on our earlier
measurements during May 1994 and October 1994. The percentage of methylmercury to total mercury in sediments varied from 2.8 to 7.8%, while in
biological samples it varied from 33 to 97%. Bottom-feeder species (crabs, prawns
and cat fish) have a higher methylmercury to total mercury ratio than midcolumn feeder species (boi, dhoma and black fish).
Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank Dr. K.S.V. Nambi, Head Environmental Assessment
Division, BARC for his interest and kind encouragement.
References
Adriano DC (1986) Trace elements in the terrestrial environment, chap 8 Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
New York
Bloom NS, Crecelius EA (1983) On the chemical forms of mercury in edible fish and marine
invertibrate tissues. Mar Chern 14:49-59
Callister, SM, Winfrey MR (1986) Microbial methylation of mercury in Upper Wisconsin river
sediment. Water Air Soil Pollut 29:1873-1887
Doshi GR, Joshi SN (1987) Determination of mercury in natural waters. Ind J Technol 25:371-372
Ebinghaus R, Hintelmann H, Wilken RD (1994) Mercury cycling in surface waters and in the
atmospheric species analysis for the investigation of transformation and transport properties of
mercury. Fresenius J Anal Chern 350:21-29
Hight SC, Corcoran MT (1987) Rapid determination of methylmercury in fish and shellfish, ) Assoc
Off Anal Chern 70:22-28
Jha SK, Krishnamoorthy TM, Sastry VN, Mahadevan TN, Tripathi N, Anilkumar S, Kulkarni VV
(1996) Preliminary investigations on sedimentation rates and mercury distribution in core
sediments of Thane Creek. Proc 5th Nat! Symp on Environment Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics,
calcutta 28 Feb-1 March 1996, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay pp 108-113
Pacyna JM, Munch J (1991) Anthropogenic mercury emissions in Europe. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:5161
Pandit GG, Tripathi RM, Jha SK, Krishnamoorthy TM, Nambi KSV (1996) Standardisation of
methylmercury estimation in fish and sediment samples by the HPLC-UV technique. Proc 5th Nat!
G.G. Pandit et al.
mercury and methylmercury in a variety of biota. The concentrations of total
mercury and methylmercury were found to vary from 62.5-548 and 20.4344.4 ng/g (d.w.), respectively. The ratio of methylmercury to total mercury
varied from 0.33 to 0.97 in different species. Species such as crab, prawn and cat
fish, which are bottom feeders, showed a higher ratio of methylmercury to total
mercury as compared to mid-column feeder species (dhoma, boi and black
fish).
5
Conclusions
Thane creek is one of the most mercury-polluted creeks in the Bombay region.
The spatial profile of total mercury in Thane creek water on the third cruise
which was arranged in May 1995, showed lower concentrations (0.03-0.3 ~lg!l)
due to control measures adopted by the industries based on our earlier
measurements during May 1994 and October 1994. The percentage of methylmercury to total mercury in sediments varied from 2.8 to 7.8%, while in
biological samples it varied from 33 to 97%. Bottom-feeder species (crabs, prawns
and cat fish) have a higher methylmercury to total mercury ratio than midcolumn feeder species (boi, dhoma and black fish).
Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank Dr. K.S.V. Nambi, Head Environmental Assessment
Division, BARC for his interest and kind encouragement.
References
Adriano DC (1986) Trace elements in the terrestrial environment, chap 8 Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
New York
Bloom NS, Crecelius EA (1983) On the chemical forms of mercury in edible fish and marine
invertibrate tissues. Mar Chern 14:49-59
Callister, SM, Winfrey MR (1986) Microbial methylation of mercury in Upper Wisconsin river
sediment. Water Air Soil Pollut 29:1873-1887
Doshi GR, Joshi SN (1987) Determination of mercury in natural waters. Ind J Technol 25:371-372
Ebinghaus R, Hintelmann H, Wilken RD (1994) Mercury cycling in surface waters and in the
atmospheric species analysis for the investigation of transformation and transport properties of
mercury. Fresenius J Anal Chern 350:21-29
Hight SC, Corcoran MT (1987) Rapid determination of methylmercury in fish and shellfish, ) Assoc
Off Anal Chern 70:22-28
Jha SK, Krishnamoorthy TM, Sastry VN, Mahadevan TN, Tripathi N, Anilkumar S, Kulkarni VV
(1996) Preliminary investigations on sedimentation rates and mercury distribution in core
sediments of Thane Creek. Proc 5th Nat! Symp on Environment Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics,
calcutta 28 Feb-1 March 1996, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay pp 108-113
Pacyna JM, Munch J (1991) Anthropogenic mercury emissions in Europe. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:5161
Pandit GG, Tripathi RM, Jha SK, Krishnamoorthy TM, Nambi KSV (1996) Standardisation of
methylmercury estimation in fish and sediment samples by the HPLC-UV technique. Proc 5th Nat!