Tree Rings, Populus nigra L., as Mercury Data Logger in Aquatic Environments: Case Study of an Historically Contaminated Environment

Abstract

In this study, a tree (Populus nigra L.) has been presented as data logger of mercury release in aquatic environments using tree rings chemistry to provide chronological historical monitoring of mercury discharge from a chlor-alkali industrial effluent to a coastal lagoon. Tree rings (Populus nigra L.) as mercury data logger is suggested by mercury accumulation trends in the tree rings reflecting the industrial plant capacity increments in the early stages of mercury discharges and enhancing industrial plant controls to minimize mercury discharges in the last two decades after imposed global regulations on mercury emissions.

Use of Dendrochronology and Dendrochemistry in Environmental Forensics: Does It Meet theDaubertCriteria?

“…Sheppard et al (2008) provided a similar confirmation of a dendrochemical signal for sulfur (S) and phosphorus (P), associated with the 1943 volcanic eruption of Paricutin, Mexico. Abreu et al (2008) confirmed the synchronous dendrochemical uptake of anthropogenic mercury released by a chlor-alkali plant in Portugal.…”

Assessment of the Suitability of Tree Rings as Archives of Global and Regional Atmospheric Mercury Pollution

“…Overall, Hg concentrations at the TC sites were low due a lack of point sources for air pollution and no mining activity proximate to the catchment area. Other studies, adjacent to point source pollution and contaminated with legacy Hg, have measured concentrations up to 280 and 644 ng g –1 in wood , (Table SI 1). Also, the TC trees did not exhibit an increase in Hg concentrations consistent with the timing of the Industrial Revolution.…”

Chronological Trends and Mercury Bioaccumulation in an Aquatic Semiarid Ecosystem under a Global Climate Change Scenario in the Northeastern Coast of Brazil

“…Climate change could be the most important reason for the intensification of this process [ 56 ]. At different geographic scales, the interaction of these factors establishes chronological profiles with different temporal variations of contamination specific to each ecosystem [ 5 , 57 , 58 ]. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze climate change’s effects on the intensification of some mechanisms triggering higher Hg bioaccumulation in the aquatic ecosystems of this region.…”

“…Accumulation trends have been inferred mostly from records in sediment layers, but in recent years, dendrochemistry has provided great insights into environmental and social histories. Biologists, climatologists and physical geographers have used dendrochronological techniques to investigate environmental changes and recent global climate changes in different parts of the world [ 37 , 38 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Dendrochronological methods have successfully dated and interpreted geological and hydrological conditions [ 64 ], avalanches and rock falls [ 65 ], archaeological sites’ human activity [ 4 ] and climate change [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ].…”

“…Tree rings have already been used as biogeochemical tracers to map the extent of environmental pollution due to anthropogenic emissions by different countries [ 37 , 62 , 72 ]. Several studies have also used dendrochemistry to address environmental pollution from different sources [ 37 , 58 , 62 , 63 , 72 ]. However, only a few studies have directly linked the levels of metal traces in wood to changes in emissions from suspected sources of pollution [ 37 , 62 , 63 , 72 ].…”