Abstract
Mercury [Hg] emissions from old plant collections treated with mercuric chloride (HgCl2) may
present a high health risk for staff working in certain herbaria. The present study evaluated
Hg concentrations in ambient air, plant specimens and biological samples from staff working
in the Pretoria National Herbarium (PRE) and the H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium (PRU),
University of Pretoria. Biological samples from a group of 15 people exposed to HgCl2 in
herbaria and a non-exposed control group of five people were studied. Additionally, plant
samples from herbarium specimens treated and non-treated with HgCl2 were analysed.
Plant materials treated with HgCl2 had persistent high concentrations of Hg in the range of
114–432 μg g−1, whereas untreated materials were in the range of 0.20–0.45 μg g−1. The HgCl2-
treated plant specimens induced elevated concentrations of Hg into the herbarium rooms
near storage cabinets, where up to 1 μg m−3 of Hg was measured in the air of both herbaria.
However, no significant difference in mean Hg concentrations in hair was found between
herbarium workers and members of the control group, 0.46 and 0.64 μg g−1 respectively
(p<0.05, Student's t-test). For both groups, Hg concentrations were lower than that indicated
by the World Health Organization [WHO] for non-exposed adults, namely 2 μg g−1. The mean
concentration of total Hg in urine from the mercury-exposed herbarium group, 2.28 μg g−1
creatinine, was significantly higher than in the control group, 1.05 μg g−1 of creatinine. For
both populations, the concentrations of Hg in their urine were below the threshold Hg values
set by the WHO, i.e., 5 μg g−1 creatinine. We concluded that there was no strong response by
individual herbarium staff from long-term exposure to Hg concentrations in the range of 0.28–1.1 μg m−3.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001498 |
| Date | 02 December 2008 |
| Creators | Kataeva, M, Panichev, N, van Wyk, EA |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | © 2008 Elsevier B.V. |
| Relation | Science of the Total Environment |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds