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Vol. 1, No. 1 |
Fall 2004 |
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IntroductionWelcome to the first issue of the San Francisco Bay Mercury News! This electronic newsletter will be issued bi-annually and is intended to be a compilation of mercury research activities currently underway in the Bay Area. Each researcher has provided a summary paragraph regarding the purpose of their research and recently accomplished milestones. Contact information follows each project summary. The newsletter is distributed by the San Francisco Estuary Institute as part of the Regional Monitoring Program. A table of contents follows this introduction. To move directly to a description of a project listed in the table of contents, click on the title. Alternatively, you can browse through the entire newsletter by scrolling down. The next issue of the SF Bay Mercury News will be released the first week of February 2005. We welcome contributions to the newsletter and are actively seeking new contributors. If you have a summary for the newsletter or questions or comments regarding the content of this newsletter please e-mail or call Meg Sedlak at SFEI (meg@sfei.org or tel. (510) 746-7345) . If you did not receive this e-mail from SFEI directly and you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, please visit the SFEI website to register for the San Francisco Bay Mercury News (www.sfei.org/rmp/index.html). If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please unsubscribe by clicking here. Lastly, if you are experiencing formatting issues, the newsletter can be downloaded directly from our website by clicking here.
In this issueOn-going Projects4. Description of UCSC’s Hg Studies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Recent Publications. 7. Status Report on Guadalupe River Watershed Mercury TMDL. New Reports/Recent Academic Theses 1. Legacy Contaminants in the Bay. Forthcoming report from BCDC. 3. Mercury Research of Potential Relevance to San Francisco Bay. UC-Berkeley Upcoming Hg Conferences/Workshops 1. San Francisco Bay Wetland Mercury Research Coordination Meeting, February 23, 2005 2. Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, August 6-11, 2006 Project Summaries In September 2003, researchers from the USGS, the University of Maryland and the State University of New York (Stony Brook) began a three-year project funded by CALFED to explore processes controlling the mercury transformations and bioaccumulation in the San Francisco Bay Delta. The overall goal of this project is to better understand processes that underlie previously reported observations that the mercury contamination of biota is low in the central Delta and high in the rivers flowing into the Delta. The study is designed to test whether this trend is based on spatial differences in the production and/or degradation of methylmercury, methylmercury transfer efficiencies into the base of the food web, food web structure, or some combination of these potential factors. The two primary study regions being compared and contrasted are Frank’s Tract in the central Delta and the Cosumnes River. Within these regions the investigation includes three primary sub-habitats: emergent marsh, areas of dense submerged vegetation (i.e. Brazilian waterweed, Egeria densa), and non-vegetated open water. This research is ongoing with two field trips having been conducted to date (December ’03 and June ’04) and more fieldwork to be conducted throughout 2005. In year three the study focus will shift to mercury transformation and bioaccumulation processes associated with the Cosumnes River floodplain. Contact Information: For more information on this project, please contact the primary investigators listed below. Mercury transformations in sediment and water; Dr. Mark Marvin-DiPasquale ( mmarvin@usgs.gov ) Pathways of mercury accumulation in food webs; Dr. Robin Stewart ( arstewar@usgs.gov ). Mercury concentrations in water sediment and biota; Dr. Robert Mason ( mason@cbl.umces.edu ) Kinetics of mercury uptake into the base of the food web; Drs. Paul Pickhardt ( ppickhardt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu ) and Nicholas Fisher ( nicholas.fisher@sunysb.edu ), In August the Board of Directors for the California Bay-Delta Authority approved funding of a $4.5 million proposal to monitor mercury in fish in the Bay-Delta watershed, establish an organizational structure to allow stakeholder input on the monitoring, and conduct risk assessment and risk communication activities to raise public awareness about fish contamination issues with the goal of reducing human exposure to methylmercury in the watershed. Partners in this project include SFEI, UC Davis, Moss Landing Marine Lab, the California Department of Health Services, and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. This project will include monitoring of 1) sport fish to characterize human exposure and spatial patterns and 2) small fish as an indicator of temporal and spatial patterns and exposure of piscivorous wildlife. The sampling will include trend monitoring sites, screening of areas in the watershed that have not recently been sampled, and monitoring of restoration projects. Availability of the funds is anticipated within the next few months. As soon as funds are available a Steering Committee will be formed to guide the design of the monitoring program. Sampling will begin in summer of 2005. Contact Information: Stakeholders interested in participating in this study should contact: Rainer Hoenicke at SFEI ( rainer@sfei.org ). Other contacts: Sport fish sampling: Jay Davis, SFEI
( jay@sfei.org ) 3 Concentration and Production of
Methylmercury in Wetlands in the Bay –
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Restoration of wetlands around San Francisco Bay requires filling subsided areas to a level that will support aquatic macrophytes that will in turn continue to trap sediments transported by rivers. Materials being transported from Corps of Engineers dredging operations in the Bay can be used for this purpose. This use would save the Government the cost of finding and transporting other material to the restoration sites and the cost of transporting the dredge material to a remote disposal site, a potential win - win situation. The Corps of Engineers San Francisco District is working with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the California State Coastal Conservancy, and other stakeholders to integrate this beneficial use of dredged material into its Long Term Management Strategy. As the environmental research and development arm of the Corps of Engineers, the Engineer Research and Development Centers' Environmental laboratory has been conducting field and laboratory studies designed to address technical questions framed at the CALFED Stakeholders meeting at Moss Point Marine Laboratory, 8-9 October in 2002. These include:
The majority of our work to date has centered on the Hamilton Army Airfield and China Camp (reference) sites on San Pablo Bay. This year we expand our work to include the Sonoma Baylands and other sites. Contact Information: Dr. Herb Frederickson ( Herbert.L.Frederickson@erdc.usace.army.mil ) 4. Mercury Studies in the San
Francisco Bay Area. University of California, Santa Cruz The WIGS laboratory at UCSC is involved in several projects on the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the San Francisco Bay area, with funding provided by the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP), University of California Toxic Substances Research & Teaching Program (UC TSR&TP), National Science Foundation (NSF), and a National Institute of Health (NIH) superfund grant to Dr. Jim Hunt at UC Berkeley. The RMP studies focus on temporal and spatial variations in the concentrations and speciation of mercury in Bay waters and on the particulate flux of mercury into the Bay during high freshwater discharges at Mallard Island. The latter study is being directed by Lester McKee of SFEI. In addition, we are working with David Schoellhammer of the USGS on two projects that are based on RMP data: (1) modeling particulate mercury cycling in the Bay and (2) its export from the system. Two of the UC TSR&TP studies are investigating (1) the effect of algal blooms on mercury concentration, speciation and bioavailability in the South Bay and (2) the atmospheric evasion of mercury from the Bay. These are being conducted in collaboration with Jim Cloern and Sam Luoma of the USGS. The other UC TSR&TP studies, that are just being initiated, are looking at the bioaccumulation of mercury in benthic invertebrates (Fionna Morris), atmospheric mercury fluxes (Melanie Gault), and sublethal mercury toxicity in fish (Mary Langsner). The NSF study, which is a graduate fellowship for Frank Black, is investigating the factors influencing the bioavailability of organic mercury species in fresh water systems discharging into the Bay. It is an extension of previous studies by David Sedlak’s group at UC Berkeley, and he is contributing to the project’s oversight as a member of Frank’s graduate committee. The NIH study on the mercury concentration of petroleum products and their contribution to atmospheric mercury fluxes in the Bay area has been accepted for publication in Atmospheric Environment (Conaway et al., ms in press). The article includes Rob Mason from Chesapeake Biological Laboratory as a co-author and acknowledges the contributions of Geoff Brosseau of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association and Fred Schmidt of the California Air Resources Control Board. Another article on the geochronology of mercury fluxes in the South Bay, which was conducted in collaboration with Elizabeth Watson at UC Berkeley, is being published in Marine Chemistry (Conaway et al., 2004) – the electronic version already out. That study was supported by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board and supervised by Richard Looker. Another article on mercury speciation in Bay waters, written in collaboration with Rob Mason at Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, was published in Marine Chemistry within the past twelve months (Conaway et al., 2003), as were two related articles in (1) Environmental Science & Technology that contrasted the relative wealth of information that has been reported on metals in San Francisco Bay compared to other estuaries (Sañudo-Wilhelmy et al., 2004) and (2) in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science that compared cobalt cycles in San Francisco Bay and the Hudson River Estuary (Tovar-Sanchez et al., 2004). The latter two articles were written in collaboration with a previous graduate student participant in the RMP, Sergio Sañudo-Wilhelmy, and his colleagues at Stony Brook University. In addition, J.R. Flanders (2004) just completed his MS in Environmental Toxicology, with substantial input from Cindy Gilmour of the Smithsonian Institution, with a thesis on the effect of organic and inorganic ligands on the bioavailability, uptake and methylation of inorganic mercury by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Publications: Conaway, C., S. Squire, R.P. Mason, and A.R. Flegal. 2003. Mercury speciation in the San Francisco Bay estuary. Marine Chemistry 80: 199-225. Conaway, C. H., E. Watson, J.R. Flanders and A.R. Flegal. 2004. Assessing historic mercury concentrations in sediments, San Francisco Bay estuary. Marine Chemistry (in press). Conaway, C.H. R.P. Mason, D.J. Steding, R. Mason and A.R. Flegal. 2004. Estimate of mercury emission from gasoline and diesel fuel consumption, San Francisco Bay area, California. Atmospheric Environment (in press). Flanders, J.R. 2004. The Effect of Organic and Inorganic Ligands on the Biioavailability, Uptake, and Methylation of Inroganic Mercury by Desulkfobulbos propionicus sp. MS Thesis, Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz pp.83. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, S.A., A. Tovar-Sanchez, N.S. Fisher and A.R. Flegal. 2004. Examining toxic metals in U.S. estuaries. Environmental Science and Technology: 34A-38A. Tovar-Sanchez, A., S.A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, and A.R. Flegal. 2004. Temporal and spatial variations in the biogeochemical cycle of cobalt in two estuaries: Hudson River and San Francisco Bay. Estuaries, Coastal and Shelf Science (in press). Contact Information: Russ Flegal Flegal@etox.ucsc.edu LFR Levine-Fricke, WIGS Laboratory, and several other collaborating organizations have received authorization to identify management options that could reduce methylmercury production in tidal wetlands of San Francisco Bay. The project will estimate methylmercury production in wetland habitats, identify wetland management and design options to inhibit production of methylmercury, and develop monitoring protocols and tools for calculating load reductions. The project has been tentatively approved but a contract is not yet in place. It is anticipated that work will commence in early 2005. Contact information: Phil Lebednik Phillip.Lebednik@lfr.com 6. Mercury
and Methylmercury Processes in North San Francisco Bay Tidal Wetland
Ecosystems In December 2003, the California Bay-Delta Authority (CBDA) Board of Directors approved funding of a $1.6 million proposal to study mercury and methymercury processes in wetlands of the Petaluma River and San Pablo Bay. Partners in this project include SFEI, USGS Menlo Park, USGS Biological Resources Division, USGS Wisconsin, and Avocet Associates. A primary interest of this project is to examine processes that lead to mercury exposure and accumulation by several species of threatened or endangered wetland birds, including the California clapper rail. This project will examine Hg and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in the sediments, water and biota of five tidal marshes along a salinity gradient up Petaluma River. Influences of seasonal and interannual variation in environmental parameters on Hg geochemistry and bioaccumulation will also be examined. Physiographic differences among marshes of different ages to be studied are also expected to impact Hg geochemistry. Relationships found previously in other estuarine ecosystems will be sought, and changes with marsh progression will be examined to project likely long-term outcomes of restoration projects. This knowledge is needed for deciding where and how to restore selected wetlands and to anticipate possible impacts of projects. For restoration projects that proceed, additional studies can then be conducted to confirm projected changes and further refine understanding of Hg transformation and bioaccumulation processes in an adaptive management process. The project is currently in contracting with CBDA, with planning and scoping work anticipated starting in November 2004. Sampling will begin in winter of 2004-5. Contact information: Donald Yee, SFEI donald@sfei.org
7. Status Report of Guadalupe
River Watershed Mercury TMDL Completed an extensive wet season sampling effort of stormwater and sediment samples. Draft Data Collection Report, Part 1: Wet Season Sampling, available on CD from Dave Drury ( ddrury@valleywater.org ). Work performed by Tetra Tech and funded by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Progress May - September 2004 Completed extensive fish sampling in creeks, the River, Lake Almaden and four reservoirs. Completed methylmercury production sampling in two reservoirs. Completed phyto- and zooplankton sampling in Lake Almaden and four reservoirs. Data to be reported in the forthcoming Draft Data Collection Report, Part 2: Dry Season Sampling. Work and report performed by Tetra Tech, funded by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, with in-kind services from USGS and USEPA. Work to be Conducted Oct - December 2004 Contact Information: Dave Drury at the Santa Clara Valley Water District (
ddrury@valleywater.org ) or 8. UC-Davis Study of Bioavailability
of Mercury and Production of Methyl Mercury in Stege Marsh and
Walker Creek Estuary The original goal of our PEEIR-supported study was to determine whether there were site-to site differences at Walker Creek Estuary (Tomales Bay, CA) in bioavailability of inorganic mercury or in production of methylmercury by sediment bacteria. At this site, which experiences Hg-contamination from the Gambonini Mine, sediment Hg levels were found to be extremely heterogeneous even on a small scale, and this made identification of high and low-Hg sites problematic. Thus, we switched to a focus on the [Hg] in leg muscle of the “lined shore crab” as our survey tool and also included: (1) Tom’s Point Estuary as a putative non-impacted control site, 1.5 km removed from Walker Creek, and (2) Stege Marsh, which is impacted by diverse heavy metal and xenobiotic contaminants and also by the normal Hg-load from San Francisco Bay. The concentration of Hg in crab muscle emerged as an intriguing indicator/ integrator of Hg-bioavailability within a given estuary. We found very different tendencies for trophic magnification (within individual lined shore crabs of different sizes) depending on the estuary selected. Stege Marsh crabs showed moderate Hg levels (200 ppb; wet weight) and no tendency toward biomagnification in larger individuals, while large crabs from Walker Creek contained in excess of 1000 ppb Hg, roughly five times the concentration found in small individuals there. Elevated concentrations were also detected in Tom’s Point crabs, which suggests that the impact of the mine extends beyond Walker Creek Estuary. Low-Hg crabs collected at Bodega Marine Lab Reserve, “outplanted” to these diverse estuarine sites, and fed local food sources showed similar tendencies to bioaccumulate Hg regardless of the site to which they were transferred. Because this finding is at odds with our survey data, we are investigating trophic levels of the various crabs via 15N analyses. We are also investigating how far up and down Tomales Bay the impact of the Gambonini Mine can be detected using indicator crabs. Contact Information: Doug Nelson at UC-Davis dcnelson@ucdavis.edu With funding from the Clean Estuary Partnership (CEP), the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) began a three-year study in June 2002 to determine the concentrations and loads of suspended sediments, mercury, trace metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (DDT, chlordane and dieldrin) in the Guadalupe River, San Jose. Water bodies adjacent to and downstream from the historic New Almaden Mining District, once the largest producer of mercury in North America are contaminated with mercury. Urban areas of the lower portion of the watershed have lower levels of mercury contamination and are also contaminated with PCBs. With funding provided by the Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances (RMP) and the CEP, the study continued during WY 2004, and SFEI has just secured funding from the RMP, the United State Army Corps of Engineers and Santa Clara Valley Water District for WY 2005. The new United States Geological Survey (USGS) flow gauge at Hwy 101 provides an ideal sampling location – close to the Bay and downstream from most of the urban area, safe from vandalism, and well-lit by street lamps. During the first year of the study, 26 samples for mercury analysis were collected using Clean Hands techniques. Concentrations of total mercury varied from 0.2-18.7 µg/L. A mercury load of 116 kg was calculated using sediment data collected on a 15-minute basis using a DTS-12 turbidity probe and flow data provided by the USGS. During the second year of study, rainfall and floods were smaller. Concentrations of total mercury varied from the detection limit to 1,419 µg/L (n=40). Analysis and reporting for the second year of data will be completed by the end of 2004. This study has helped to affirm the importance of loads of trace substances in small local tributaries of the Bay relative to the much larger Sacramento/ San Joaquin River system. The continuation of this study is important for helping storm water agencies and regulatory authorities to make difficult management decisions about how to reduce mercury contamination in the Bay. The data also provide a means for determining trends and the success of management actions. Contact Information: Guadalupe River study: Lester McKee (SFEI)
lester@sfei.org 10. Montezuma Wetlands Project.
Comprehensive Monitoring Program (including mercury in water,
sediment, and tissues) at the Site and at Suisun Marsh Reference
Sites The Montezuma Wetlands Project will restore over 1,800 acres of historical tidal wetlands in the brackish Suisun Marsh by raising subsided site elevations using approximately 17 million cubic yards of sediment dredged from SF Bay-Delta harbors and channels. The project site comprises about 2,500 acres at the eastern edge of Suisun Marsh. The project will restore a variety of habitats, including tidal wetlands, seasonal wetlands, and vernal pools; aiding in the recovery of important threatened and endangered fish, birds, mammals, invertebrates, and plants. Restoration efforts will be conducted in four hydrologically discrete phases so that impacts to existing biological resources at the site will be minimized and wetland habitat values maximized through adaptive management. Construction of Phase I wetlands and the necessary infrastructure for offloading and placing sediment was started in 2002, and to-date more than 500,000 cubic yards (cy) of sediment have been placed at the site. Another 1.3 million cy of sediment will be placed during the fall 2004 through summer 2005. Restoration of all four phases is expected to take 15 to20 years, depending on the availability of dredged sediment. The monitoring efforts will continue for at least 10 years after completion of each project phase. The Project’s monitoring program includes the measurement of numerous chemicals of concern (COCs; e.g., inorganics, PAHs, pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, and radiation) in sediment, water, and tissue. Monitoring is conducted on-site during sediment placement activities and will continue for at least 10 years after restoration is completed. Additionally, the project conducts monitoring at selected Suisun Marsh reference sites (e.g., Rush Ranch, Hill Slough) to assess background levels of COCs in local tidal marshes. Mercury is just one element in the monitoring program, but because of its bioaccumulative characteristics it is a major component of tissue monitoring in invertebrates and fish. Initial reports on reference site monitoring were completed in 2003 and 2004, and the Project’s first on-site monitoring reports are expected to be released in Fall 2004. A Technical Review Team (TRT), administered by SFEI, reviews and comments on Montezuma’s reports and adaptive management strategies. Contact Information: For site information, contact: Doug Lipton, Montezuma’s Project Manager, Lipton Environmental
Group ( docterre@sonic.net
) Report Summaries 1. Legacy Contaminants in the Bay BCDC is a state permitting and planning agency that is guided by its law and its policies in the San Francisco Bay Plan (Bay Plan) when reviewing and authorizing projects in the SF Bay and shoreline to ensure resources are protected. The Bay Plan includes findings and policies on water quality protection. These policies were last updated in June 2003 to address nonpoint source pollution in the Bay. As a continuation of the water quality policy update, BCDC staff is now reviewing issues surrounding legacy contaminants in the Bay. BCDC staff is currently preparing a draft background report, entitled Mercury, PCBs, and other Legacy Contaminants in San Francisco Bay, which will summarize and present available scientific and technical information on legacy contaminants in the Bay, including a large chapter on mercury. The mercury chapter will include, as available, the following information: (1) a description of the problem and impacts on human health and wildlife, and primary issues regarding the ecological restoration and management of tidal wetlands; (2) mercury trends; (3) historical uses and practices; (4) fate and transport; (5) sources and loads; (6) strategies; and (7) gaps and needs. This draft report is intended to be the basis for any proposed revisions to existing Bay Plan water quality findings and policies, and for any other possible recommendations to the Commission. Contact Information: Lisa Sniderman, Nonpoint Source Program Coordinator at BCDC ( lisab@bcdc.ca.gov ). 2. The San
Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control
Boards to release New Fish Contaminant Study in October 2004 As part of the California Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP), the State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards have undertaken a series of studies to evaluate the condition of California's water resources. In October 2004, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board will be issuing a SWAMP report describing studies measuring contaminant levels in fish tissue in reservoirs and coastal areas in the San Francisco Bay region. In this study, edible fish were collected and their tissues analyzed to determine the concentrations of contaminants (e.g., mercury, PCBs, and pesticides) which may affect human health. These and other data are being used by staff from the State Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to determine whether and what type of advisories should be issued related to the consumption of fish from the surveyed reservoirs and coastal waters. Contact information: For additional information, please contact Karen Taberski at the Regional Water Quality Control Board ( KMT@rb.2.swrcb.ca.gov ). 3. Mercury
Research of Potential Relevance to San Francisco Bay. University
of California, Berkeley Two recently completed Ph.D. dissertations from students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley may be of interest to researchers studying mercury in San Francisco Bay. The dissertation of Anna Mehrotra, titled, “Using Iron Amendments to Reduce Mercury Methylation in Engineered Wetland Sediments” demonstrated that the addition of ferrous chloride to wetland sediments reduces the rate of mercury methylation by up to 95%. The addition of iron to the sediments reduces in the concentration of bisulfide (HS -) in the sediments, which in turn lowers the concentration of dissolved bioavailable Hg(II) species, such as Hg(HS) 2 0. The reduction in concentrations of these species slows the net rate of mercury methylation. The dissertation includes experiments conducted with pure cultures of the mercury-methylating organism Desulfobulbus propionicus (1pr3) in the absence of sediment, experiments with mixed microbial cultures in sediments from five locations in San Francisco Bay and experiments in laboratory microcosms designed to simulate tidal wetlands. Results of the pure culture experiments were published in Environmental Science & Technology in 2003 (Mehrotra et al., 2003) and other publications are forthcoming. Dr. Mehrotra was supervised by Alex Horne and David Sedlak. The dissertation of Helen Hsu, titled, “Complexation of Mercury(II) by Reduced Sulfur-Containing Ligands in Municipal Wastewater Effluent and Oxic Surface Waters” examined the speciation of Hg(II) in wastewater effluent and surface waters. Through the use of a new, competitive ligand exchange/chelating resin technique, Dr. Hsu demonstrated that wastewater effluent contains relatively high concentrations of a ligand that is capable of forming extremely strong complexes with Hg(II). Samples collected from eutrophic lakes and downstream of the New Almaden mine contained weaker Hg(II)-complexing ligands. Species that may explain the strong ligands in wastewater effluent include sulfide, polysulfide and filterable clusters or polymers that contain ZnS and FeS. Measurements of Hg(II) speciation in wastewater effluent and surface water samples from San Francisco Bay were published in Environmental Science & Technology in 2003 (Hsu and Sedlak, 2003). Other publications are forthcoming. Dr. Hsu was supervised by David Sedlak. Mehrotra A.S., Horne A.J. and Sedlak D.L. (2003) Inhibition of net mercury methylation by iron in Desulfobulbus propionicus cultures: implications for engineered wetlands. Environ. Sci. Technol. 37, 3018-3023. Hsu H. and Sedlak D.L. (2003) Strong Hg(II) complexation in municipal wastewater effluent and surface waters. Environ. Sci. Technol. 37, 2743-2749. For reprints of these papers or the two Ph.D. theses, please contact David Sedlak (Sedlak@ce.berkeley.edu) Upcoming Hg Workshops/Conferences 1. San FranciscoBay Wetland Mercury Research Coordination Meeting, February 23, 2005. This annual workshop brings together researchers, regulators, and stakeholders to discuss recent developments in the area of wetland mercury research. The purpose of the meetings is to facilitate the exchange of mercury information among these groups to foster collaboration. Last year’s meeting was quite well attended and productive. Information about this workshop will be available closer to the date of the workshop. 2. Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant The International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant has become the preeminent international forum for formal presentation and discussion of scientific advances concerning environmental mercury pollution. The depth, breadth, and pace of scientific discovery on the sources, environmental transport and fate, biogeochemical cycling, and adverse effects of mercury have increased enormously since the inaugural conference was convened in Sweden in 1990. In view of proposed U.S. and international actions on mercury emissions, the 2006 conference will present a timely opportunity to assimilate, synthesize, and disseminate scientific knowledge and technical information in a form useful to policy discussions involving mercury in the environment. The 8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant will be convened in Madison, Wisconsin (USA), at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, an extraordinary conference facility designed by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. You are invited to participate in this global mercury conference, which will again feature scientific advances in mercury research, with an expanded scope to include socioeconomic issues and public policy. For more information regarding this conference, please see our web site www.mercury2006.org. |
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