Mercury in the air, water and biota at the Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA)

Abstract

The Great Salt Lake, Utah (USA), is the fourth largest terminal lake on Earth and a stop-over location for 35 million birds on the Pacific Flyway. Recently, the Utah Department of Health and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources issued tissue mercury (Hg) consumption advisories for several species of birds that consume the lake's brine shrimp. We hypothesized that the chemistry of the atmosphere above the Great Salt Lake would facilitate atmospheric deposition of Hg to the water. Because little information was available on Hg at the Great Salt Lake, and to begin to test this hypothesis, we measured atmospheric elemental (Hg 0) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) concentrations as well as Hg concentrations in water and brine shrimp five times over a ~year. Surrogate surfaces and a dry deposition model were applied to estimate the amount of Hg that could be input to the lake surface, and HYSPLIT model back trajectories were developed to investigate potential sources of RGM to the lake. Atmospheric Hg 0 concentrations were similar to global ambient background values and RGM concentrations were similar to those reported for rural areas. Both Hg 0 and RGM exhibited regular diel variability. Model estimated deposition velocities for RGM to the lake ranged from 0.9 to 3.0 cm s − 1 while that determined for surrogate surfaces ranged from 2.8 to 7.8 cm s − 1 . Filtered total and methyl Hg concentrations in Great Salt Lake surface waters were consistent throughout the year (3.6 ± 0.8 ng L − 1 and 0.93 ± 0.59 ng L − 1 , respectively), while brine shrimp concentrations had a statistically significant increase from summer to fall. Data collected and data analyses indicated no direct local or regional source of Hg to the lake and that factors within the Great Salt Lake basin are important in controlling Hg 0 and RGM concentrations.