Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Mercury in the San Francisco Estuary
Christopher H. Conaway 1 , Frank J. Black 1 , Thomas M. Grieb 2 ,
Sujoy Roy 2 , and A. Russell Flegal 1
I
Introduction.....................................................................................................................
29
A Purpose and Scope ...................................................................................................
29
B
Overview of the Problem .........................................................................................
30
C
Environmental Setting of San Francisco Estuary.....................................................
30
II
Issues Related to Mercury Contamination in San Francisco Estuary .............................
31
A Human Health ..........................................................................................................
33
B Ecosystem Health .....................................................................................................
35
III Sources and History ........................................................................................................
36
A
Sources and Reservoir Size ......................................................................................
36
B
Forces That Bring Mercury to the Estuary ...............................................................
39
IV
Distribution, Speciation, and Transformation.................................................................
39
A
Sediment: The Importance of Sediment Processes ..................................................
41
B
Water: The Importance of Flux and Complexation ..................................................
42
V
Bioaccumulation and Biomagnifi cation..........................................................................
43
A Bioaccumulation ......................................................................................................
43
B
Untangling Biomagnification: Food Webs and Environmental Effects ...................
44
VI Management and Restoration .........................................................................................
44
A
History of Mercury Management in the Estuary......................................................
44
B
Recent Management and Restoration Efforts...........................................................
45
Summary .................................................................................................................................
47
Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................
48
References ...............................................................................................................................
48
I Introduction
A
Purpose and Scope
Ever since the recognition of mercury as an environmental problem, San Francisco
Estuary has been an active area of mercury research. It is little wonder that this is so:
the estuary is in the middle of a region of mercury mineralization and historic mer-
cury mining, and it is downstream of an area of historic gold mining where millions
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