Les centres de stockage de déchets (CSD) ménagers et assimilés constituent encore une filière de gestion très répandue Ce sont de véritables « boites noires » dans lesquelles des phénomènes physiques, chimiques et biologiques interviennent simultanément. Deux effluents sont produits au cours de la dégradation des déchets : les lixiviats et les biogaz. Même si le contact entre les effluents et le système environnant est limité, leur suivi est nécessaire pour améliorer leur traitement et prévenir les risques sanitaires et environnementaux. Ce travail a eu pour objectif de mettre en place des méthodologies analytiques adaptées aux métaux et métalloïdes afin d'étudier leur devenir dans les effluents de CSD. L'étude approfondie de l'arsenic (As) et de l'étain (Sn) a été motivée par leur présence dans les déchets (verres, composants métalliques, plastiques), par leur existence sous forme de nombreuses espèces et par la toxicité avérée de certaines de leurs formes chimiques. L'optimisation des protocoles d'analyse de spéciation de As et Sn dans les deux matrices complexes a permis leur suivi au sein des CSD en intégrant les caractéristiques des sites et les données climatiques. La répartition des espèces a été examinée en tenant compte de leur occurrence initiale dans les déchets. Des processus de formation et de mobilisation ont été proposés pour expliquer leur présence dans les deux effluents : d'une part la mobilisation à partir des déchets (espèces inorganiques de As et Sn, espèces butylées et mono- et diméthylées de Sn) et d'autre part la méthylation et l'éthylation par voie biologique (espèces méthylées de As et espèces méthylées et éthylées de Sn, ioniques et gazeuses).

Methods were developed for the determination of methylmercury in natural waters and sediments based on steam distillation and aqueous phase ethylation followed by gas chromatography-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The methods were shown to be free from measurable artefactual methylation of inorganic mercury and offered improved sample throughput over existing methods. Improvements were made to existing methods for the determination of total mercury in biota, sediments and natural waters and dissolved mercury species in natural waters. These methods were applied to the study of mercury cycling in two remote field sites. The cycling of mercury species was studied in Lake Murray in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, which has been historically noted as a region of high mercury concentrations in fish. Concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in the water column were found to be variable and consistent with non-contaminated lake systems. Concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in the sediments were also found to be low, except for in the south of the lake, which was influenced by an intermittent supply of water and sediments with elevated mercury concentrations from the Strickland River. Methylmercury concentrations in the sediments were generally higher in the backwater areas due to littoral processes. The low concentrations of methylmercury in the sediments and waters were inconsistent with other systems previously studied in the northern hemisphere, showing a link between high mercury concentrations in fish and high concentrations of methylmercury in waters or sediments. Therefore, the biota of Lake Murray were studied in order to account for the differences between this and other systems. A study was conducted of the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in biota from Lake Murray to elucidate key food-web interactions. This study revealed that the dominant carbon source for fish in the lake is plankton, although algae and macrophytes may also be involved in the food-web. The methylmercury bioaccumulation factors between trophic levels were similar to those measured in temperate systems of the northern hemisphere. The high concentrations of methylmercury, observed in piscivorous fish, were shown to be a consequence of the complex food-web and the number of trophic levels in the food-chains. The cycling of mercury species was studied in Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder in southwest Tasmania, which has recently been identified as being in a region of high mercury concentrations in trout and eels. The concentrations of total mercury were found to be reasonably uniform in the waters of both lakes, spatially and temporally. The concentrations of methylmercury in the waters were seasonally variable, and were consistently lower in Lake Pedder than in Lake Gordon. Dilution of methylmercury concentrations by precipitation direct to the lake surface, probably accounts for the most of the difference in methylmercury concentrations between the lakes. Owing to the long residence time of water in Lake Gordon, this reservoir mixes inputs of water with varying methylmercury concentrations. Concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in submerged soils were low and depth profiles of mercury species in the water column did not show evidence of a gradient of mercury concentrations due to releases from the sediments. The concentrations of methylmercury observed in the water column are consistent with the concentrations observed in the fish. A budget of the mercury inputs and outputs to Lake Gordon showed that in-lake processes and sources in the catchment areas both contributed significantly to the concentrations of methylmercury in the lake. The methylation of mercury in Lake Gordon appeared to mainly occur in the surface waters (< 10 m) and was not consistent with processes leading to the methylation of mercury at the oxic/anoxic boundary observed in seepage lakes in Wisconsin. The concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in bogs in the catchment areas of Lakes Gordon and Pedder, were high and governed by the concentration of organic matter in the sediments. The processes involved in the supply of mercury species from the Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder catchments appear to be similar to those in drainage lakes in the temperate and boreal regions of the northern hemisphere. The formation of the Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder reservoirs appears to have had little impact on the mean annual concentrations of methylmercury released to the downstream environment.