Biomethylation of thallium by bacteria and first determination of biogenic dimethylthallium in the ocean

To investigate a possible biomethylation of thallium, incubation experiments were carried out under aerobic conditions with a sewage sludge and with a mixed bacterial culture isolated from a sewage sludge, as well as under anaerobic conditions with a fresh-water lake sediment, by adding Tl(I) nitrate to these systems. Only in the case of the anaerobic sediment was a significant production of dimethylthallium observed (after three-weeks). Analysing different surface seawater samples and those from a single depth profile down to 4000 m, dimethylthallium was determined above the detection limit of 0.4 ng L−1 in about 20% of all samples, ranging from 0.5 to 3.2 ng l−1. The proportion of dimethy…