Bioremediation of Mercury Contamination in Kazakhstan: A Multifaceted Approach(Abstract)

摘要

Mercury poses an ecological and human health risk due to its volatility, solubility and mobility in the environment, where it often forms organo-metallic compounds (e.g. monomethyl mercury, a potent neurotoxin). The former operation of the Khimprom Plant in northern Kazakhstan resulted in the release of 970 tonnes of elemental mercury into the surrounding soil and a further 50 tonnes into wastewater, creating a plume more than two kilometres in length that is one of the largest mercury spills in the world; an ideal location for the development and transfer of new remediation technologies. Site sampling in September 2007 indicated that groundwater mercury levels in the plant vicinity are as high as 154 μg/L, a substantial increase from background concentrations; approximately 0.171 μg/L.