The loss of mercury from stored sea-water solutions of mercuric chloride

Abstract

The disappearance of mercury from stored sea-water solutions of mercuric chloride has been studied by means of the chloroform-dithizone procedure and by the use of radioactive mercury (²⁰³Hg).When sea water is enriched with nutrients facilitating the growth of bacteria, the rate at which mercury is lost from the solution is markedly increased. On the other hand, when the sea water is treated in various ways which prevent the development of bacteria, the loss of mercury from solution is considerably reduced.Rates of loss of mercury measured by the chloroform-dithizone procedure and by the use of tracer isotopes are in good agreement only in the early stages of the experiments. Thus, at a time when approximately hah0 the mercury has been lost, titrations with chloroform-dithizone only account for about 50% of the mercury determined by measurements of radioactivity. Further findings have suggested that this discrepancy arises from the fact that a considerable amount of the mercury is taken up by bacteria and converted into a form which is not detectable with chloroform-dithizone.