Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Mara Lucia Jacinto; VIDAL-TORRADO, Pablo; OTERO, Xosé Luis  and  FERREIRA, José Roberto. Total mercury in mangrove soils of the Baixada Santista and Cardoso Island, São Paulo state. Quím. Nova [online]. 2007, vol.30, n.3, pp. 519-524. ISSN 0100-4042.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422007000300003.

Total Hg content in soils of Baixada Santista, affected by different sources of pollution, and Cardoso Island, which is almost free of anthropogenic activities, were determined by CVAAS. To explain the fate of Hg in the ecosystem, pH, Eh, AVS, S_total and Total Organic Carbon were also obtained throughout the soil profiles. With the exception of two sampling sites the average content of Hg in samples obtained for Baixada Santista was 0.34 ± 0.20 mg kg^-1, which was close to the average data at Cardoso Island (0.30 ± 0.21 mg kg^-1). Both of them were below the limit established by CETESB - 0.50 mg kg^-1.

Keywords : mercury; mangrove soils; contamination.