Quantitative Evaluation of Atmospheric Deposition Flux of Mercury in Sediments within the City of Juarez,Mexico

The city of Juarez is located in the northernpart of Mexico at the border with the United States. This reportinvestigates the mercury (Hg) contribution from atmosphericsources and its accumulation in the Juarez area estimated bymeasuring the concentration of total Hg in sediments of a smallartificial pond located within the urban area of the Juarez-ElPaso metroplex. The pond is intermittently fed by Hg-free(concentration below detection levels) groundwater from a privatewell, with sporadic input of storm overflow from a nearby watertreatment facility. Total Hg concentrations in the sedimentsvaried between 20 (detection level value) and 454 μg kg^-1 dry wt, with an average value of 202.8±153.9 μg kg^-1. Physicalcharacteristics of the sediments varied among samples, althoughnot as drastically as their Hg content did. Among the sedimentparameters, the organic matter content correlated best with theHg content. A simplified balance of total mercury supply in theaquatic system revealed a sediment Hg flux of 336.0 μg m^-2 yr^-1 and a maximum Hg atmospheric flux of 119 mg m^-2 yr^-1.Our unexpected finding of significant concentrations of Hg in thetreated wastewater and in the water column stresses the need ofcareful consideration of all possible sources in determiningmercury atmospheric deposition flux.