Conceptual Approach for Analyzing the Impact of Sulfur Deposition on Methylmercury Concentrations in Freshwater Streams
Randy Waite1, David Krabbenhoft2, Jennifer Richkus3, Vicki Sandiford4, Ginger Tennant5, Tara Greaver6, Emmi Felker-Quinn7, Jaime Cajka8 and Marion Deerhake9
This poster describes a draft conceptual risk assessment approach for analyzing the impacts of atmospheric sulfur deposition on mercury sensitive freshwater streams on a broad geographic scale. We will investigate the impact of changing sulfur deposition on concentrations of methylmercury in the streams. We will identify areas where atmospheric deposition of sulfur is the primary contributing source to the total sulfur concentration in the streams. This will allow us to more easily investigate the relationship between atmospheric and aquatic sulfur concentrations, and potentially make some general assumptions about how a change in atmospheric concentrations will affect aquatic methylmercury conditions.
1US EPA, waite.randy@epa.gov 2USGS, dpkrabbe@usgs.gov 3RTI, jrichkus@rti.org 4US EPA, Sandiford.Vicki@epa.gov 5US EPA, Tennant.Ginger@epa.gov 6US EPA, Greaver.Tara@epa.gov 7US EPA, felker-quinn.emmi@epa.gov 8RTI International, jcajka@rti.org 9RTI International, med@rti.org