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International audienceMethylation of mercury (Hg) is the crucial process that controls Hg biomagnification along the aquatic food chains. Aquatic sediments are of particular interest because they constitute an essential reservoir where inorganic divalent Hg (Hg II) is methylated. Methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in sediments mainly result from the balance between methylation and demethylation reactions, two opposite natural processes primarily mediated by aquatic microorganisms. Thus, Hg availability and the activity of methylating microbial communities control the MeHg abundance in sediments. Consistently, some studies have reported a significant positive correlation between MeHg and Hg II or total Hg (Hg T), taken as a proxy for Hg II , in aquatic sediments using enzyme-catalyzed methylation/demethylation mechanisms. By compiling 1,442 published and unpublished Hg T –MeHg couples from lacustrine, riverine, estuarine and marine sediments covering various environmental conditions, from deep pristine abyssal to heavily contaminated riverine sediments, we show that a Michaelis–Menten type relationship is an appropriate model to relate the two parameters: MeHg = aHg T /(K m + Hg T), with a = 0.277 ± 0.011 and K m = 188 ± 15 (R 2 = 0.70, p < 0.001). From K m variations, which depend on the various encountered environmental conditions, it appears that MeHg formation and accumulation are favoured in marine sediments compared to freshwater ones, and under oxic/suboxic conditions compared to anoxic ones, with redox potential and organic matter lability being the governing factors

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Total mercury (Hg(T)) determination requires the addition of concentrated hydrochloric acid solution (≥10 mol L(-1) HCl) in relatively high amounts to preserve the samples and to prepare reagent solutions. A method for the preparation of concentrated HCl with Hg(T) concentration of lower than 5 ng L(-1) is described in this article. It is based on the well-known chemical reaction: 2 NH(4)Cl + H(2)SO(4) → (NH(4))(2)SO(4) + 2 HCl. This method is validated thanks to the US Environmental Protection Agency method 1631 and standard reference materials BCR-579 (mercury in coastal seawater).