Total and methyl mercury transformations and mass loadings within a wastewater treatment plant and the impact of the effluent discharge to an alkaline hypereutrophic lake.

Concerns over the fate and bioaccumulation of mercury (Hg) inputs to Onondaga Lake, a hypereutrophic lake in central New York, prompted an investigation into the concentrations and fluxes of Hg discharge from the Onondaga County Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant (METRO WWTP). Discharge of methyl Hg (MeHg) is of concern because it is the form of Hg that readily bioaccumulates along the aquatic food chain. This study incorporated clean protocols for sampling and Hg analysis to evaluate: seasonal patterns in the concentrations of total Hg (THg) and MeHg in the WWTP unit processes; the production of MeHg within the unit processes of the WWTP; the overall fate of THg and MeHg within the WWTP; and the relative impact of the Hg discharged from the WWTP to Onondaga Lake.

Surgical Dressing Technique: Two Examples1.

The advantages of dressings using polyurethane sponge are discussed and techniques of their application described.