Does salt water intrusion constitute a mercury contamination risk for coastal fresh water aquifers?

Four different sampling surveys were carried out in 1998 to evaluate the possible causes of severe mercury contamination involving many wells spread over a vast territory along the coast of southern Tuscany (Italy). Several samples of groundwater and coastal sea water were collected to determine the Hg, Cl, Ar, He and N contents. Anthropogenic or deep-seated sources of the Hg involved in the contamination event can be excluded. The observed coupling of Hg pollution with progressive salt water intrusion along the coastal aquifer indicates a close causal relation between these two phenomena. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.