Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T17:05:18.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The loss of mercury from stored sea-water solutions of mercuric chloride

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

E. D. S. Corner  and
F. H. Rigler
E. D. S. Corner
Affiliation:
International Paints Research Fellow, The Laboratory, Plymouth
F. H. Rigler
Affiliation:
Zoology Dept., University of Toronto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The disappearance of mercury from stored sea-water solutions of mercuric chloride has been studied by means of the chloroform-dithizone procedure and by the use of radioactive mercury (203Hg).

When sea water is enriched with nutrients facilitating the growth of bacteria, the rate at which mercury is lost from the solution is markedly increased. On the other hand, when the sea water is treated in various ways which prevent the development of bacteria, the loss of mercury from solution is considerably reduced.

Rates of loss of mercury measured by the chloroform-dithizone procedure and by the use of tracer isotopes are in good agreement only in the early stages of the experiments. Thus, at a time when approximately hah0 the mercury has been lost, titrations with chloroform-dithizone only account for about 50% of the mercury determined by measurements of radioactivity. Further findings have suggested that this discrepancy arises from the fact that a considerable amount of the mercury is taken up by bacteria and converted into a form which is not detectable with chloroform-dithizone.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , November 1957 , pp. 449 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1957

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Harris, J. E., 1946. Report on anti-fouling research. J. Iron St. Inst., Vol. 2, pp. 297–333.Google Scholar
Kelly, F. J., Thorpe, C. R., Threefoot, S. H. & Burch, G. E., 1950. Influence of self-absorption, volatilization and deliquescence in counting of radioelements. J. Lab. din. Med., Vol. 35, pp. 606–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Ruska, H., 1947. Fixation of mercuric chloride on bacteria and virus. Arch. exp. Path. Pharmak., Bd. 204, pp. 576–85.Google Scholar