Mercury in the Bottom Sediments of the Water Retention Reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract. In the environment, mercury undergoes constant changes and gets into soils or waters through atmospheric precipitation. It is quickly sorbed by mineral and organic colloids which occur in water and transported in the form of a suspension or accumulated in bottom sediment. Quality of sediments is an essential indicator of water pollution with this element. The aim of this paper was to an assessment of mercury content in bottom sediments of retention reservoirs in south-eastern Poland. The sediments were analyzed for mercury content. DMA-80 Mercury Analyzer was used for the analysis. The research results showed that average content of Hg in the majority of the studied bottom sediments did not exceed the geochemical background value, the sediments belonged to class 1 (unpolluted sediments). Evaluation of the state of sediments with the use of the geoaccumulation index and the pollution coefficient revealed moderate pollution of bottom sediments of the reservoirs in Rzeszów, Ożanna, Brzóza Stadnicka, Brzóza Królewska, Narożniki, Głuchów and considerable pollution of sediments from Rybnik and Bagna Rzeszowskie. Low mercury content in the studied sediments is generally related to lack of anthropogenic sources of this metal