Sofi Jonsson

Associate professor
Room: R525
Phone: +46 08-674 71 87
Sofi.Jonsson@aces.su.se

Mercury Biogeochemistry in Aquatic Systems

I’m a chemist and the research conducted in my group is focused on understanding fundamental biogeochemistry of mercury (Hg) in aquatic systems. Mercury (Hg) is mobilized from the Earth’s crust by natural and anthropogenic activities such as burning of fossil fuels, small-scale gold mining and by volcanic activities. In the environment, Hg is methylated and accumulated as monomethylmercury (MMeHg) in aquatic food webs, thereby posing a  threat to human and wildlife health. My research focuses on understanding fundamental chemical and biological processes that influence the formation, degradation and bioaccumulation of methylated mercury species in aquatic systems. This research improves our ability to manage Hg pollution and to  predict the impact of changes in Hg emission rates in relation to climate and anthropogenic land use.

Latest scientific papers

Photochemical Degradation of Dimethylmercury in Natural Waters

West, J.; Gindorf, S.; Jonsson, S.
2022 | Environ. Sci. Technol. | 56 (9) (5920-5928)

Spatial patterns and distributional controls of total and methylated mercury off the Lena River in the Laptev Sea sediments

Liem-Nguyen, V; Wild, B; Gustafsson, O; Semiletov, I; Dudarev, O; Jonsson, S
2022 | Mar Chem | 238

Insights into the factors influencing mercury concentrations in tropical reservoir sediments

Baptista-Salazar, C.; Quadra, G.R.; Sobek, A.; Jonsson, S.
2021 | Environ. Sci.-Process Impacts

Mechanistic Investigation of Dimethylmercury Formation Mediated by a Sulfide Mineral Surface

Lian, P; Mou, ZY; Cooper, CJ; Johnston, RC; Brooks, SC; Gu, BH; Govind, N; Jonsson, S; Parks, JM
2021 | JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A | 125 (24) (5397-5405)

Elevated concentrations of mercury and methylmercury in the Gadani shipbreaking area, Pakistan

Kakar, A; Van, LN; Mahmood, Q; Jonsson, S
2021 | Mar. Pollut. Bull. | 165

All publications

Biogeochemistry

How human activities affect natural processes that drive the major biogeochemical cycles that ultimately govern the composition of the environment.