Journal ArticleDOI
A Synthesis of Progress and Uncertainties in Attributing the Sources of Mercury in Deposition
Steve E. Lindberg,Russell Bullock,Ralf Ebinghaus,Daniel R. Engstrom,Xinbin Feng,William F. Fitzgerald,Nicola Pirrone,Eric M. Prestbo,Christian Seigneur +8 more
TLDR
It is agreed that the uncertainty is strongly dependent upon scale and that the question as stated is answerable with greater confidence both very near and very far from major point sources, assuming that the “global pool” is a recognizable “source.”Abstract:
A panel of international experts was convened in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2005, as part of the 8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Our charge was to address the state of science pertinent to source attribution, specifically our key question was: "For a given location, can we ascertain with confidence the relative contributions of local, regional, and global sources, and of natural versus anthropogenic emissions to mercury deposition?" The panel synthesized new research pertinent to this question published over the past decade, with emphasis on four major research topics: long-term anthropogenic change, current emission and deposition trends, chemical transformations and cycling, and modeling and uncertainty. Within each topic, the panel drew a series of conclusions, which are presented in this paper. These conclusions led us to concur that the answer to our question is a "qualified yes," with the qualification being dependent upon the level of uncertainty one is willing to accept. We agreed that the uncertainty is strongly dependent upon scale and that our question as stated is answerable with greater confidence both very near and very far from major point sources, assuming that the "global pool" is a recognizable "source." Many regions of interest from an ecosystem-exposure standpoint lie in between, where source attribution carries the greatest degree of uncertainty.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Mercury speciation and biomagnification in the food web of Caddo Lake, Texas and Louisiana, USA, a subtropical freshwater ecosystem
Matthew M. Chumchal,Thomas R. Rainwater,Steven C. Osborn,Aaron P. Roberts,Michael T. Abel,George P. Cobb,Philip N. Smith,Frank C. Bailey +7 more
TL;DR: Some vertebrates examined in the present study had low Hg concentrations in their tissues similar to those observed in invertebrates, whereas others had concentrations of Hg in their tissue that in previous studies have been associated with negative health consequences in fish.
Journal ArticleDOI
Top-down constraints on atmospheric mercury emissions and implications for global biogeochemical cycling
Shaoije Song,Noelle E. Selin,Anne L. Soerensen,Anne L. Soerensen,Hélène Angot,Richard S. Artz,Steven Brooks,Ernst Günther Brunke,Gary D. Conley,Aurélien Dommergue,Ralf Ebinghaus,Thomas M. Holsen,Daniel A. Jaffe,Shichang Kang,Paul Kelley,Paul Kelley,Winston T. Luke,Olivier Magand,Kohji Marumoto,Katrine Aspmo Pfaffhuber,Xinrong Ren,Xinrong Ren,Guey Rong Sheu,Franz Slemr,Thorsten Warneke,Andreas Weigelt,Peter Weiss-Penzias,Dennis Wip,Qianggong Zhang +28 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors perform global-scale inverse modeling to constrain present-day atmospheric mercury emissions and relevant physiochemical parameters in the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model.
Journal ArticleDOI
Linking science and policy to support the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
TL;DR: Three areas in which researchers across the natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences can mobilize and disseminate knowledge in support of Hg abatement and the realization of the Minamata Convention’s objective are examined.
Journal ArticleDOI
Anthropogenic mercury emissions from 1980 to 2012 in China
TL;DR: There was a big variation of regional cumulative mercury emission during 1980-2012 in China, with higher emissions occurred in eastern areas and lower values in the western and far northern regions, and it is urgent to reduce anthropogenic mercury emission and subsequent impact on ecological functions and human health.
Journal ArticleDOI
Using Mercury Isotopes To Understand Mercury Accumulation in the Montane Forest Floor of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau.
Xun Wang,Ji Luo,Runsheng Yin,Wei Yuan,Che-Jen Lin,Che-Jen Lin,Jonas Sommar,Xinbin Feng,Haiming Wang,Cynthia Lin +9 more
TL;DR: Correlation analyses of Δ199Hg versus total carbon and leaf area index suggest that litter biomass production is a predominant factor in atmospheric Hg inputs to the forest floor, as evidenced by the negative Δ 199Hg found in the surface soil samples.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The biogeochemical cycling of elemental mercury: Anthropogenic influences☆
TL;DR: A review of the available information on global Hg cycling shows that the atmosphere and surface ocean are in rapid equilibrium; the evasion of Hg0 from the oceans is balanced by the total oceanic deposition of hg(II) from the atmosphere as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Case for Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas
TL;DR: A review of the weaknesses in interpretation and the choice of information that has been used to argue against atmospheric Hg contamination can be found in this paper, where the authors examine the weaknesses of the information used to support the prevailing scientific view that natural geologic sources are the principal contributors of Hg.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global anthropogenic mercury emission inventory for 2000
TL;DR: Wilson et al. as mentioned in this paper presented a new inventory of global emissions of mercury to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources for the year 2000, showing that the largest emissions of Hg to the global atmosphere occur from combustion of fossil fuels, mainly coal in utility, industrial, and residential boilers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Arctic springtime depletion of mercury
W.H. Schroeder,Kurt G. Anlauf,Leonard A. Barrie,J. Y. Lu,Alexandra Steffen,D. Schneeberger,Torunn Berg +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that during the spring (April to early June) of 1995, there were frequent episodic depletions in mercury vapour concentrations in Arctic surface air.