Studies of mercury pollution in a lake due to a thermometer factory situated in a tourist resort: Kodaikkanal, India [An article from: Environmental Pollution]

This digital document is a journal article from Environmental Pollution, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Kodaikkanal, India, suffered mercury contamination due to emissions and waste from a thermometer factory. Kodai Lake is situated to the north of the factory. The present study determined mercury in waters, sediment and fish samples and compared the values with those from two other lakes, Berijam and Kukkal. Total mercury (Hg"T) of 356-465ng l^-^1, and 50ng l^-^1 of mercury in methyl mercury form were seen in Kodai waters while Berijam and Kukkal waters showed significantly lower values. Kodai sediment showed 276-350mg/kg Hg"T with about 6% methyl mercury. Berijam and Kukkal sediments showed Hg"T of 189-226mg/kg and 85-91mg/kg and lower methylation at 3-4% and 2%, respectively. Hg"T in fish from Kodai lake ranged from 120 to 290mg/kg. The results show that pollution of the lake has taken place due to mercury emissions by the factory.