Reply to the comment on “New insights into the biomineralization of mercury selenide nanoparticles through stable isotope analysis in giant petrel tissues” by A. Manceau, J. Hazard. Mater. 425 (2021) 127922. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127922

Silvia Queipo-Abad (1) , Zoyne Pedrero (1) , Claudia Marchán-Moreno , Khouloud El Hanafi (1) , Sylvain Bérail (1) , Warren Corns , Yves Cherel (2) , Paco Bustamante (3, 4) , David Amouroux (1)

1 IPREM - Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux
2 CEBC - Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372
3 LIENSs - LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés
4 IUF - Institut universitaire de France

In the comments reported by A. Manceau [1], relating to our recent paper on mercury (Hg) species-specific isotopic characterization in giant petrel tissues [2] two critical questions were raised. Firstly, according to A. Manceau, our method of extraction and isolation of nanoparticles was not able to efficiently isolate mercury selenide nanoparticles (HgSe NPs) and therefore the δ202Hg values measured are not species-specific, but rather δ202Hg of mixtures of complexes such as MeHgCys, Hg(Sec)4, and HgSe. Secondly, he suggests that our main findings showing that no isotopic fractionation is induced during the HgSe NPs biomineralization step from the precursor-demethylated species is erroneous because it contradicts the conclusion of two recent articles by A. Manceau and co-workers [3,4]. In this reply we defend our scientific findings and respectively respond to the questions and comments raised by A. Manceau.

Mots clés: HgSe nanoparticles; Isotopic fractionation; MeHg demethylation; Mercury; Seabirds

Domaines: Matériaux; Chimie analytique; Polymères; Chimie théorique et/ou physique

Silvia Queipo-Abad, Zoyne Pedrero, Claudia Marchán-Moreno, Khouloud El Hanafi, Sylvain Bérail, et al.. Reply to the comment on “New insights into the biomineralization of mercury selenide nanoparticles through stable isotope analysis in giant petrel tissues” by A. Manceau, J. Hazard. Mater. 425 (2021) 127922. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127922. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2022, 431, pp.128582. ⟨10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128582⟩. ⟨hal-03614972⟩