Mercury and methylmercury concentration in tar contaminated sediments along the coast of Qatar

One of the pollutants that impacts the coastal environment of Qatar is the vast expanse of oil residue, ‘tarmats’ deposited on its beaches. The current study aimed to gauge the concentration levels of total mercury (THg), methylmercury (CH3-Hg), and total sulfur (TS) in tarmat contaminated sediments and test their presence in select coastal species. Seven biota species under three classes (Gastropoda, Bivalvia, and Crustacea) have been found on the tarmat of Ras Rakan and Umm-Tais islands. Layers of hard asphalt-like tarmats and sediments samples were collected from 34 sites, along the coast of Qatar. Moreover, the Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor (BSAF) was calculated for THg and CH3-Hg through sentinel species.沉积在卡塔尔海滩上的大片油渣焦油垫（tarmats），是影响该国沿海环境的污染物之一。本研究旨在测定受焦油垫污染的沉积物中总汞（total mercury, THg）、甲基汞（methylmercury, CH3-Hg）及总硫（total sulfur, TS）的浓度水平，并检测选定沿海物种体内上述污染物的存在情况。在拉斯拉坎岛（Ras Rakan）与乌姆泰斯群岛（Umm-Tais Islands）的焦油垫区域，已发现分属腹足纲（Gastropoda）、双壳纲（Bivalvia）和甲壳纲（Crustacea）3个纲的7种生物物种。研究人员从卡塔尔沿海的34个采样点采集了硬质沥青状焦油垫层与沉积物样本。此外，本研究通过指示物种计算了总汞与甲基汞的生物沉积物累积因子（Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor, BSAF）。