Wiener, J. G., Fitzgerald, W. F., Watras, C. J., and Rada, R. G., 1990, Partitioning
and bioavailability of mercury in an experimentally acidified Wisconsin lake:
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 9, no. 7, p. 909-918.

Abstract:

We studied the partitioning of mercury (Hg) among air, water, sediments and fish at
Little Rock Lake, a  clear water seepage lake in north-central Wisconsin. The lake
was divided with a sea curtain into two basins,  one acidified with sulfuric acid to pH
5.6 for two years and the other an untreated reference site (mean pH 6.1),  to
document the effects of acidification. Trace-metal-free protocols were used to
measure Hg at the picomolar  level in air and water. Mercury in surficial sediments
was strongly correlated with volatile matter content. Total  Hg concentrations in
whole, calendar age-1 yellow perch (Perca flavescens ), sampled after one year of
residence  in the lake, averaged 114 ng/g (fresh weight) in the reference basin and 135
ng/g in the acidified basin. The mean  whole-body burden (quantity) of Hg in age-1
perch did not differ between basins after the first year, but was  significantly greater in
the treatment basin than in the reference basin after the second year of acidification.

Keywords:

acids, Wisconsin, fish, Pisces, lakes, geochemical-cycle, biogeochemistry, mercury,
bioaccumulation- , freshwater-fish, USA,-Wisconsin, acidification-