Mathilde Monperrus

Species-Specific Stable Isotope Fractionation of Mercury during Hg(II) Methylation by an Anaerobic Bacteria (Desulfobulbus propionicus) under Dark Conditions

This work reports the first results on the stable isotope fractionation of Hg during methylation by anaerobic bacteria under dark conditions. The GC-MC-ICPMS methodology employed is capable of simultaneously measuring the species-specific isotopic composition of different Hg species within the same sample. We have studied Hg isotopic fractionation caused by methylation of Hg(II) standard reference material NIST-3133 in the presence of the pure bacterial strain Desulfobulbus propionicus MUD10 (DSM 6523) under fermentative conditions. We have measured the isotopic composition of Hg(II) and monomethyl mercury (MMHg) in these cultures as a function of time and calculated delta-values for both species versus the starting material (NIST-3133) as a delta-zero standard. Two different strategies for the incubation were applied: single sampling cultures and a continuous sampling culture. The results obtained have shown that under the conditions employed in this work the methylation of Hg(II) causes mass-dependent fractionation of the Hg isotopes for both Hg(II) substrate and produced MMHg. Such a process occurred under the exponential growth of the bacteria which preferentially methylate the lighter isotopes of Hg. After 96 h for the continuous culture and 140 h for the single sampling cultures, we observed a change in the fractionation trend in the samples at a similar cell density value (ca. 6.0 x 10(7) cells mL(-1)) which suggests the increasing contribution of a simultaneous process balancing methylation extent such as demethylation. Assuming that Rayleigh type fractionation conditions are met before such suppression, we have obtained a alpha(202/198) fractionation factor of 1.0026 +/- 0.0004 for the single sampling cultures.

Potential and limits of speciated isotope-dilution analysis for metrology and assessing environmental reactivity

This paper describes the application of isotopically labelled elemental compounds for species-specific isotope-dilution (ID) analysis and for species transformation evaluation with the focus on organotin species and methylmercury in both analytical and environmental studies. Among others, the accurate measurement of organometallic compounds (speciation) in environmental samples can be hampered by processes such as incomplete extraction from solid samples, material loss, rearrangement reactions during extraction and/or derivatization, low recoveries, and signal drift. All these undesirable effects, with the exception of incomplete species extraction from the sample matrix, can be studied and/or corrected for using speciated ID analysis (IDA). The use of compounds enriched in stable isotopes with subsequent detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a powerful tracer technique to study dynamic environmental processes. We also present an overview of other work published in this area. We discuss limitations of the applicability of speciated IDMS.

Simultaneous determination of mercury methylation and demethylation capacities of various sulfate‐reducing bacteria using species‐specific isotopic tracers

The use of species-specific isotopic tracers for inorganic and methyl mercury has allowed the simultaneous determination of the methylation and demethylation potentials of pure culture of isolated sulfate-reducing (SR) bacterial strains using low Hg species concentration levels (7 µg/L (199)Hg(II), 1 µg/L Me(201)Hg). A major advantage of the method reported here is that it can be used to follow simultaneously both the degradation of the species added but also the formation of their degradation products and thus the determination during the same incubation of the specific methylation/demethylation yields and rate constants. Methylation/demethylation capacities and extents have been found to differ between the tested strains and the tested conditions. The methylating/demethylating capacities of bacteria appear to be strain specific. All the methylating strains were found to demethylate methylmercury (MeHg). The active mechanism responsible for Hg methylation appears directly dependent on the bacterial activity but is not dependent on the metabolism used by the tested bacteria (sulfate reduction, fermentation, or nitrate respiration). The results provide confirmation that SR strains contribute to MeHg demethylation under anoxic conditions, leading to Hg(II) as the end product, consistent with the oxidative degradation pathway. Kinetic experiments have allowed specific transformation rate constants to be addressed for the two reversible processes and the reactivity of each isotopic tracer to be compared. The differential reactivity highlighted the different steps involved in the two apparent processes (i.e., uptake plus internal transformation of mercury species). Methylation appears as the slowest process, mainly controlled by the assimilation of Hg(II), whereas demethylation is faster and not dependent on the MeHg concentration.

Speciation Analysis of Mercury in Aquatic Environment

Abstract This review considers methods for mercury speciation with low limits of detection that can be applied to real aquatic environmental samples (waters, sediments, biological tissues). Special attention is given to the necessity of clean sampling procedures and the proper storage of the samples. In this review, different extraction techniques for sediments and biological tissues are considered. The performance of different separation techniques, like liquid chromatography and off‐line and on‐line gas chromatography, are compared for their environmental applications.

Mercury methylation by a microbial community from sediments of the Adour Estuary (Bay of Biscay, France)

In order to study the influence of microorganisms on the mercury biogeochemistry, the metal content and the structure of microbial communities were determined in sediments from stations along the Adour Estuary. The comparison of the bacterial communities and their distribution in function of the environmental parameters by Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed the influence of metals on the bacterial communities structure. Sediments where the bacterial communities are mostly influenced by methylmercury were incubated in slurries with or without mercury, under oxic and anoxic conditions. Methylmercury production was detected in the anoxic biotic slurries with a net methylation yield of 0.3% after 24 h. CCA based on T-RFLP profiles revealed the impact of mercury addition on the bacterial communities structure. In addition, 17 bacterial strains, mainly sulphate-reducing bacteria involved in mercury methylation, were isolated and identified.

Mercury speciation in seafood using isotope dilution analysis: a review.

Mercury is a toxic compound that can contaminate humans through food and especially via fish consumption. Mercurys toxicity depends on the species, with methylmercury being the most hazardous form for humans. Hg speciation analysis has been and remains a widely studied subject because of the potential difficulty of preserving the initial distribution of mercury species in the analysed sample. Accordingly, many analytical methods have been developed and most of them incur significant loss and/or cross-species transformations during sample preparation. Therefore, to monitor and correct artefact formations, quantification by isotope dilution is increasingly used and provides significant added value for analytical quality assurance and quality control. This review presents and discusses the two different modes of application of isotope dilution analysis for elemental speciation (i.e. species-unspecific isotope dilution analysis and species-specific isotope dilution analysis) and the different quantification techniques (i.e. classical and multiple spike isotope dilution analyses). Isotope tracers are thus used at different stages of sample preparation to determine the extent of inter-species transformations and correct such analytical artefacts. Finally, a synthesis of the principal methods used for mercury speciation in seafood using isotope dilution analysis is presented.

Rapid, accurate and precise determination of tributyltin in sediments and biological samples by species specific isotope dilution-microwave extraction-gas chromatography-ICP mass spectrometry

The rapid and precise determination of tributyltin (TBT) in sediments and biological tissues has been performed by species specific isotope dilution mass spectrometric analysis (IDMS) using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer as detector after capillary gas chromatography (CGC-ICP-MS). A new labelled TBT standard (117TBTCl in methanolic solution) commercial isotope provided by LGC Limited (Teddington, UK) was used for these determinations. Parameters affecting the ICP-MS performances, such as correction for detector dead time and mass bias correction, were carefully studied. The mass bias was corrected using two different methods: the bracketing mode and an on-line mode based on a continuous nebulisation of an antimony solution (121Sb and 123Sb). The on-line mode has been successfully applied for mass bias corrections and allows simultaneous GC-ICP-MS analysis of organotins. Three spiking procedures were compared using isotopically enriched TBT (117TBT) to compare the efficiency of the extraction procedures for the different samples studied. A rapid method was developed (2 min) giving yield to good precision (uncertainty range between 0.7 and 13.7%) using a simultaneous microwave extraction and spiking procedure. The accuracy and precision of the different protocols has been validated on certified reference materials, such as PACS 2 (980 ng Sn g−1) and CRM 462 (70 ng Sn g−1) for the sediments, CRM 477 (2200 ng TBT g−1) and CRM 710 (135.1 ng TBT g−1) for the biological tissues. The results obtained were in all cases in good agreement with the certified reference values.

Identical Hg Isotope Mass Dependent Fractionation Signature during Methylation by Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in Sulfate and Sulfate-Free Environment

Inorganic mercury (iHg) methylation in aquatic environments is the first step leading to monomethylmercury (MMHg) bioaccumulation in food webs and might play a role in the Hg isotopic composition measured in sediments and organisms. Methylation by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) under sulfate-reducing conditions is probably one of the most important sources of MMHg in natural aquatic environments, but its influence on natural Hg isotopic composition remains to be ascertained. In this context, the methylating SRB Desulfovibrio dechloracetivorans (strain BerOc1) was incubated under sulfate reducing and fumarate respiration conditions (SR and FR, respectively) to determine Hg species specific (MMHg and IHg) isotopic composition associated with methylation and demethylation kinetics. Our results clearly establish Hg isotope mass-dependent fractionation (MDF) during biotic methylation (-1.20 to +0.58‰ for δ(202)Hg), but insignificant mass-independent fractionation (MIF) (-0.12 to +0.15‰ for Δ(201)Hg). During the 24h of the time-course experiments Hg isotopic composition in the produced MMHg becomes significantly lighter than the residual IHg after 1.5h and shows similar δ(202)Hg values under both FR and SR conditions at the end of the experiments. This suggests a unique pathway responsible for the MDF of Hg isotopes during methylation by this strain regardless the metabolism of the cells. After 9 h of experiment, significant simultaneous demethylation is occurring in the culture and demethylates preferentially the lighter Hg isotopes of MMHg. Therefore, depending on their methylation/demethylation capacities, SRB communities in natural sulfate reducing conditions likely have a significant and specific influence on the Hg isotope composition of MMHg (MDF) in sediments and aquatic organisms.

Determination of polycyclic and nitro musks in environmental water samples by means of microextraction by packed sorbents coupled to large volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis

In this work the development and validation of a new procedure for the simultaneous determination of 9 nitro and polycyclic musk compounds: musk ambrette (MA), musk ketone (MK), musk mosken (MM), celestolide (ADBI), phantolide (AHMI), tonalide (AHTN), traseolide (ATII), cashmeran (DPMI) and galaxolide (HHCB) in environmental water samples (estuarine and wastewater) using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) followed by large volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LVI-GC-MS) was carried out. Apart from the optimization of the different variables affecting MEPS (i.e., nature of the sorbent, nature of the solvent elution, sample load, and elution/injection volume) extraction recovery was also evaluated, not only for water samples but also for environmental water matrices such as estuarine and waste water. The use of two deuterated analogs ([(2)H3]-AHTN and [(2)H15]-MX) was successfully evaluated in order to correct matrix effect in complex environmental matrices such as influent samples from wastewater treatment plants. Method detection limits (MDLs) ranged from 5 to 25 ng L(-1), 7 to 39 ng L(-1) and 8 to 84 ng L(-1) for influent, effluent and estuarine samples, respectively. Apparent recoveries were higher than 75% for all target compounds in all the matrices studied (estuarine water and wastewater) and the precision of the method, calculated as relative standard deviation (RSD), was below 13.2% at 200 ng L(-1) concentration level and below 14.9% at low level (20 ng L(-1) for all the target analytes, except for AHTN which was set at 40 ng L(-1) and HHCB at 90 ng L(-1), due to the higher MDL values presented by those target compounds). Finally, this MEPS procedure was applied to the determination of the target analytes in water samples, including estuarine and wastewater, from two estuaries, Urdaibai (Spain) and Adour (France) and an established stir-bar sorptive extraction-liquid desorption/large volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SBSE-LD/LVI-GC-MS) method was performed in parallel for comparison. Results were in good agreement for all the analytes determined, except for DPMI.

In situ experiments for element species-specific environmental reactivity of tin and mercury compounds using isotopic tracers and multiple linear regression.

The fate of mercury (Hg) and tin (Sn) compounds in ecosystems is strongly determined by their alkylation/dealkylation pathways. However, the experimental determination of those transformations is still not straightforward and methodologies need to be refined. The purpose of this work is the development of a comprehensive and adaptable tool for an accurate experimental assessment of specific formation/degradation yields and half-lives of elemental species in different aquatic environments. The methodology combines field incubations of coastal waters and surface sediments with the addition of species-specific isotopically enriched tracers and a mathematical approach based on the deconvolution of isotopic patterns. The method has been applied to the study of the environmental reactivity of Hg and Sn compounds in coastal water and surface sediment samples collected in two different coastal ecosystems of the South French Atlantic Coast (Arcachon Bay and Adour Estuary). Both the level of isotopically enriched species and the spiking solution composition were found to alter dibutyltin and monomethylmercury degradation yields, while no significant changes were measurable for tributyltin and Hg(II). For butyltin species, the presence of light was found to be the main source of degradation and removal of these contaminants from surface coastal environments. In contrast, photomediated processes do not significantly influence either the methylation of mercury or the demethylation of methylmercury. The proposed method constitutes an advancement from the previous element-specific isotopic tracers’ approaches, which allows for instance to discriminate the extent of net and oxidative Hg demethylation and to identify which debutylation step is controlling the environmental persistence of butyltin compounds.