Study on the variation of MeHg content in different types of soils in non-ferrous metallurgical areas

Abstract To study the methylation of mercury in soils of various utilization categories in typical non-ferrous metallurgical areas, soils of various utilization categories were selected for the experiment, and the changes of soil mercury, methylmercury, and SRB content were analyzed, whether the changes of SRB and the changes of soil physical and chemical properties affected the formation of methylmercury, and the results showed that: with the incubation time increased, the mercury content showed a decreasing-increasing-reducing trend. Except for the riverbank substrate, the MeHg content of the other five different land-use types exhibited a trend of rising and then falling, and the MeHg content of soils under flooded conditions was higher than that of non-flooded soils. SRB was present in all types of soils and promoted soil Hg methylation in the late incubation period. Among soil physical and chemical properties, pH and soluble sulfide were significantly correlated with MeHg content in some soils, indicating that MeHg formation was related to SRB, pH, and soluble sulfide, which is important for the study of different types of soils in non-ferrous metallurgical areas.