The bioavailability of particle-associated inorganic
mercury (HgI) and monomethylmercury (MMHg) was
evaluated in vitro using digestive fluid of the deposit feeding
lugworm, Arenicola marina. Digestive fluid, removed
from the midgut of the polychaete, was incubated with
contaminated sediment, and the proportion of HgI or MMHg
solubilized by the digestive fluid was determined. Digestive
fluid was found to be a more effective solvent than
seawater in solubilizing particle-associated HgI and MMHg.
A greater percentage of MMHg than HgI was solubilized
from most sediments, suggesting that sediment-associated
MMHg is generally more readily available from sediment
for biological uptake. The proportion of MMHg released from
the sediment was inversely correlated with sediment
organic matter content, decreasing exponentially with
increasing organic matter content of the sediment. The
results for HgI were equivocal. MMHg bioaccumulation
factors (BAFs) from previous studies showed a similar trend
with organic content of sediment, suggesting that
solubilization may be the process limiting the bioaccumulation
of particle-bound MMHg. It is concluded that in vitro
extraction with a deposit feeder's digestive fluid provides
a potential tool to study the process of Hg bioaccumulation
via ingestion routes, although its application to various
sediments and organisms needs further investigation.
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