Occurrence of monoethylmercury in the Florida Everglades: Identification and verification

A few studies have reported the occurrence of monoethylmercury (CH₃CH₂Hg⁺) in the natural environment, but further verification is needed due to the lack of direct evidence and/or uncertainty in analytical procedures. Various analytical techniques were employed to verify the occurrence of CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ in soil of the Florida Everglades. The identity of CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ in Everglades soil was clarified, for the first time, by GC/MS. The employment of the recently developed aqueous phenylation-purge-and-trap-GC coupled with ICPMS confirmed that the detected CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ was not a misidentification of CH₃SHg⁺. Stable isotope-tracer experiments further indicated that the detected CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ indeed originated from Everglades soil and was not an analytical artifact. All these evidence clearly confirmed the occurrence of CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ in Everglades soil, presumably as a consequence of ethylation occurring in this wetland. The prevalence of CH₃CH₂Hg⁺ in Everglades soil suggests that ethylation could play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of Hg.