Natural Organics and Environmental Stability of Mercury: Electrochemical Considerations

Abstract

The behavior of elemental mercury in aqueous systems containing organics has been examined thermodynamically in terms of the complexing effect of a natural organic ligand species on aqueous electrochemical equilibria in the system, and supplemented by tests on liquid mercury exposed to solutions containing natural organics. The implications of the study are serious in relation to the likely effect of organic‐containing aquatic systems on mercury solubility in the mercury contaminated regions of the world.