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BACTERIA USED TO PRECIPITATE MERCURY IN CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER OF PAVLODAR, KAZAKHSTAN
Citation:
ABDRASHITOVA, S., W. J. DAVIS-HOOVER, R. DEVEREUX, S. AIKELDIEVA, T. TLEULINA, AND A. KURMANBAYEV. BACTERIA USED TO PRECIPITATE MERCURY IN CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER OF PAVLODAR, KAZAKHSTAN. Presented at Joint International Symposia for Subsurface Microbiology and Environmental Biogeochemistry, Jackson Hole, WY, August 14 - 19, 2005.
Description:
Abstract for poster presentation: A number of regions in Kazakhstan are contaminated with soluble mercury originating from industrial sources. A chlor-alkali plant that operated from 1970-1990 caused contamination of ground water near a northern suburb of Pavlodar city. The plume of ground water contaminated with HgCl2 traveled 2.5 km from the source of pollution and could potentially contaminate a nearby river. Development of biotechnology for stabilizing soluble mercury in this subsurface environment may be required to protect the river. Here we evaluated the potential of bacteria to precipitate and remove mercury in the ground water.