Mercury concentrations of fish, river water, and sediment in the Río Ramis-Lake Titicaca watershed, Peru

Science of the Total Environment

Volumn 368, Issue 2-3, 2006, Pages 637-648

  Gammons, Christopher H ^a   Slotton, Darell G ^b   Gerbrandt, Butch ^a   Weight, Willis ^a   Young, Courtney A ^a   McNearny, Richard L ^a   Cámac, Eugenio ^c   Calderón, Ruben ^c   Tapia, Henri ^c  

^a MONTANA TECH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL ALTIPLANO   (Peru)

Author keywords

Artisanal gold mining; Fish; Human health; Lake Titicaca; Mercury; Peru

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; GOLD MINES; MERCURY (METAL); SEDIMENTS; TISSUE; WATER QUALITY;

ARTISANAL GOLD MINING; FISH; HUMAN HEALTH; LAKE TITICACA; PERU;

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY;

GOLD; HEAVY METAL; MERCURY; RIVER WATER; TRACE METAL;

CONCENTRATION (COMPOSITION); DATA SET; FISH; FRESHWATER; GOLD MINE; MERCURY (ELEMENT); MINE DRAINAGE; MUSCLE; POLLUTANT; SEDIMENT; WATER QUALITY;

ARTICLE; FISH; FOOD CONTAMINATION; FOOD INTAKE; LAKE; MINER; MINING; MUSCLE TISSUE; NONHUMAN; PARTICLE RESUSPENSION; PERU; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION; RIVER ECOSYSTEM; SAMPLING; SEDIMENT; STREAM (RIVER); WATER STANDARD; WATERSHED;

ANIMALS; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; FISHES; FOOD CONTAMINATION; FRESH WATER; GEOLOGIC SEDIMENTS; GOLD; MERCURY; MINING; MUSCLES; PERU; SOIL POLLUTANTS; WATER POLLUTANTS, CHEMICAL; WATER SUPPLY;

LAKE TITICACA; SOUTH AMERICA;

ORESTIAS; TRICHOMYCTERUS;

EID: 33746731649     PISSN: 00489697     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.09.076     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. Allison J.D., Brown D.S., and Novo-Gradac K.J. MINTEQA2/PRODEFA2, a geochemical assessment model for environmental systems: version 3.0 users manual (1991), Environ Res Lab, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
2. Boudou A., Maury-Brachet R., Coquery M., Durrieu G., and Cossa D. Synergic effect of gold mining and damming on mercury contamination in fish. Environ Sci Technol 39 (2005) 2448-2454
3. Boulangé B., and Jaen E.A. Morphologie, hydrographie et climatologie du lac Titicaca et de son bassin versant. Rev Hydrobiol Trop 14 (1981) 269-287
4. Carmouze J.P., and Jaen E.A. La régulation hydrique du lac Titicaca et l'hydrologie de ses tributaires. Rev Hydrobiol Trop 14 (1981) 311-328
5. Carmouze J.P., Arge C., and Quintanilla J. Régulation hydrochimique du lac Titicaca et l'hydrochimie de ses tributaries. Rev Hydrobiol Trop 14 (1981) 329-348
6. Downs S.G., MacLeod C.L., and Lester J.N. Mercury in precipitation and its relation to bioaccumulation in fish: a literature review. Water Air Soil Pollut 108 (1998) 149-187
7. Guyot J.L., Roche M.A., Noriega L., Calle H., and Quintanilla J. Salinities and sediment transport in the Bolivian Highlands. J Hydrol 113 (1990) 147-162
8. Hall S.R., and Mills E.L. Exotic species in large lakes of the world. Aquat Ecosyst Health Manag 3 (2000) 105-135
9. Hunerlach M.P., Rytuba J.R., and Alpers C.N. Mercury contamination from hydraulic placer-gold mining in the Dutch Flat mining district, California. US Geol Surv Water-Resources Inv Report vol. 99-4018B (1999) 179-189
10. Ikingura J.R., and Akagi H. Total mercury and methylmercury levels in fish from hydroelectric reservoirs in Tanzania. Sci Total Environ 304 (2003) 355-368
11. Johannesson K.R., Vilchez R., and Bertone D. Acoustic estimation of ichthyomass and its distribution in Lake Titicaca. FAO Report (1981) FAO/GCP/RLA/025(NOR)
12. Lacerda L.D. Updating global Hg emissions from small-scale gold mining and assessing its environmental impacts. Environ Geol 43 (2003) 308-314
13. Lacerda L.D., Paraquetti H.H.M., Rezende C.E., Silva L.F.F., Filbo E.V.S., Marins R.V., et al. Mercury concentrations in bulk atmospheric deposition over the coast of Río de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. J Braz Chem Soc 13 (2002) 165-169
14. Lechler P.J., Miller J.R., Lacerda L.D., Vinson D., Bonzongo J.C., Lyons W.B., et al. Elevated mercury concentrations in soils, sediments, water, and fish of the Madeira River basin, Brazilian Amazon: a function of natural enrichments?. Sci Total Environ 260 (2000) 87-96
15. Lüssen A., Falk T.M., and Villwock W. Phylogenetic patterns in populations of Chilean species of the genus Orestias (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae): results of mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mol Phylogenet Evol 29 (2003) 151-160
16. Mason R.P., Fitzgerald W.F., Hurley J., Hanson A.K., Donaghay P.L., and Sieburth J.M. Mercury biogeochemical cycling in a stratified estuary. Limnol Oceanogr 38 (1993) 1227-1241
17. Meili M., Bishop K., Bringmark L., Johansson K., Munthe J., Sverdrup H., et al. Critical levels of atmospheric pollution: criteria and concepts for operational modelling of mercury in forest and lake ecosystems. Sci Total Environ 304 (2003) 83-106
18. Miller J.R., Lechler P.J., and Desilets M. The role of geomorphic processes in the transport and fate of mercury in the Carson River basin, west-central Nevada. Environ Geol 33 (1998) 249-262
19. Ministerio de Energia y Minas. Investigacion y monitoreo de los Ríos Carabaya-Ramis y Cabanillas y del Lago Titicaca (1999) 62pp.
20. Mirlean N., Larned S.T., Nikora V., and Tavares Kütter V. Mercury in lakes and lake fishes on a conservation-industry gradient in Brazil. Chemosphere 60 (2005) 226-236
21. Newell N.D. Geology of the Lake Titicaca region, Peru and Bolivia. Geol Soc Amer Memoir 36 (1949) 111
22. Paredes M., Huaracallo J., Quispe M., Ccosi L., and Belón S. Estudio de la contaminación del Lago Titicaca. Proyecto Especial Binacional Lago Titicaca (2002) Proyecto RLA/08/34, Puno, Peru, 47pp.
23. Parenti L.R. A taxonomic revision of the Andean Killifish genus Orestias (Cyprinodontiformes, Cyprinodontidae). Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 178 (1984) 107-214
24. Richerson P.J., Widmer C., Kittel T., and Landa A.C. A survey of the physical and chemical limnology of Lake Titicaca. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 19 (1975) 1498-1503
25. Richerson P.J., Neale P.J., Wurtsbaugh W., Alfaro R.T., and Vincent W. Patterns of temporal variation in Lake Titicaca. A high altitude tropical lake. I. Background, physical and chemical processes, and primary production. Hydrobiologia 138 (1986) 205-220
26. Slotton D.G., Ayers S.M., Reuter J.E., and Goldman C.R. Gold mining impacts on food chain mercury in northwestern Sierra Nevada streams. Technical Report for the University of California Water Resources Center, Project W-816 (1995) 46pp.
27. Slotton D.G., Reuter J.E., and Goldman C.R. Mercury uptake patterns of biota in a seasonally anoxic Northern California reservoir. Water Air Soil Pollut 80 (1995) 841-850
28. US EPA. Water quality criteria for the protection of human health: methylmercury (2001), Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 20460 Federal document: EPA-823-R-01-001
29. US EPA. Current National Recommended Water Quality Criteria. www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/wqcriteria.hmtl. (accessed 9/2005).
30. Vaux P., Wurtsbaugh W., Treviño H., Mariño L., Bustamante E., Torres J., et al. Ecology of the pelagic fishes of Lake Titicaca, Peru-Bolivia. Biotropica 20 (1988) 220-229
31. Viega M.M. Mercury in artisanal gold mining in Latin America: facts, fantasies, and solutions. UNIDO-Expert Group Meeting - introducing new technologies for abatement of global mercury pollution deriving from artisanal gold mining, Vienna, July 1-3 (1997) 23pp.
32. Weis I.M. Mercury concentrations in fish from Canadian Great Lakes areas of concern: an analysis of data from the Canadian Department of Environment database. Environ Res 95 (2004) 341-350
33. Widmer C., Kittel T., and Richerson P.J. A survey of the biological limnology of Lake Titicaca. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 19 (1975) 1504-1510
34. Young C., Gammons C.H., McNearny R., Slotton, Quispe F., Aquino E., et al. Environmental assessment of gold processing by mercury amalgamation in a developing country. In: Bjorkman B., Samuelsson C., and Wikstrom J.O. (Eds). Recycling and waste treatment in mineral and metal processing: technical and economical aspects (2002), The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), Warrendale, PA, USA 599-608