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Journal ArticleDOI

Distribution, speciation, and budget of atmospheric mercury

01 Dec 1985-Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry (Kluwer Academic Publishers)-Vol. 3, Iss: 4, pp 407-434
TL;DR: In this paper, total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations over the Atlantic Ocean and over Central Europe were measured repeatedly in the years 1978-1981, and the tropospheric mercury burden was calculated to be 6×109g.
Abstract: Total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations over the Atlantic Ocean and over Central Europe were measured repeatedly in the years 1978–1981. The latitudinal TGM distribution showed a pronounced and reproducible interhemispherical difference with higher TGM concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere. TGM was found to be vertically well mixed within the troposphere. The TGM concentration seems to increase with time at a rate of 10±8%/yr in the Northern and 8±3%/yr in the Southern Hemisphere. Measurements of mercury speciation showed that elemental mercury is the main TGM component contributing more than 92% and 83% of TGM in marine and continental air, respectively. The tropospheric mercury burden was calculated to be 6×109g. The interhemispheric distribution and temporal and spatial variability of TGM imply a tropospheric residence time of TGM of about 1 yr. Sink strengths calculated independently from the measured mercury concentration on particles and in rainwater are consistent with the above figures.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a broad overview and synthesis of current knowledge and understanding pertaining to all major aspects of mercury in the atmosphere is presented, including physical, chemical, and toxicological properties of this element.

1,668 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
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.
Abstract: Elevated levels of mercury in aquatic environments remote from industrial sources have been broadly attributed to long-range atmospheric transport and deposition of anthropogenic Hg. Evidence in support of this prevailing scientific viewglobal biogeochemical Hg models, sedimentary archives of historic Hg fluxes, and geographic trends in soil Hghave been challenged as being insuf ficiently rigorous to rule out the alternative explanation that natural geologic sources are the principal contributors of Hg in remote locations. In this review, we examine the weaknesses in interpretation and the choice of information that has been used to argue against atmospheric Hg contamination. Analytical advances in measuring trace levels of environmental Hg have greatly narrowed estimates of natural Hg fluxes, providing a clear measure of the relative magnitude of anthropogenic Hg emissions and deposition. Recent experimental results indicate that diagenetic processes cannot explain the mounting number of lake sediment an...

972 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the last decade, a new pattern of Hg pollution has been discerned, mostly in Scandinavia and North America, mostly due to more widespread air pollution and long-range transport of pollutants.
Abstract: During the last decade a new pattern of Hg pollution has been discerned, mostly in Scandinavia and North America. Fish from low productive lakes, even in remote areas, have been found to have a high Hg content. This pollution problem cannot be connected to single Hg discharges but is due to more widespread air pollution and long-range transport of pollutants. A large number of waters are affected and the problem is of a regional character. The national limits for Hg in fish are exceeded in a large number of lakes. In Sweden alone, it has been estimated that the total number of lakes exceeding the blacklisting limit of 1 mg Hg kg-1 in 1-kg pike is about 10 000.

894 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of research related to mercury control technology for coal-fired power plants and identify areas requiring additional research and development, including the chemistry of mercury transformation and control; progress in the development of promising control technologies: sorbent injection, control in wet scrubbers, and coal cleaning; and projects costs for mercury control.

872 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a U-tube chromatographic column with 15% OV-3 on Chromosorb WAW-DMSC, held at −196°C in liquid nitrogen, was used to preconcentrate alkylmercury compounds.

828 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1975

553 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Assuming the rainwater mercury concentration of 25-60 ng/1 to be representative for the continental areas of Northern Hemisphere and 8-11 ng/1 for all other regions, and using the precipitation distribution given by Baumgartner and Reichel (1975) , the annual mercury flux accounts for 5-8 x 109 g Hg/yr which agrees reasonably well with the emission figures....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented global data for sources of atmospheric input for 20 trace metals, and the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic sources is assessed, where interference factors are calculated as (total anthropogenic emissions/total natural emissions) × 100.

487 citations


"Distribution, speciation, and budge..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...The anthropogenic contribution is reported to account for 4 to 50% of the total mercury emissions (Andren and Nriagu, 1979; Garrels et al., 1975 ; Kothny, 1973; Lantzy and Mackenzie, 1979; Lockeretz, 1974; McNeal and Rose, 1974; Weiss et al., 1971)....

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  • ...Weathering of rocks, degassing of soil, volcanic emissions (McNeal and Rose, 1974), and emissions from the oceans ( Lantzy and Mackenzie, 1979 ) were identified as natural sources of atmospheric mercury....

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  • ...From the mercury content of ice cores and the mercury cycle model by Lantzy and Mackenzie (1979) , Millward (1982) derived rates of increase of 3.5 and 8.6%/yr for mercury emissions from continents to the atmosphere....

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  • ...Similar discrepancies are found for the estimates of a total mercury flux into the atmosphere which vary between 2.3 and 190 x 109 g Hg/yr (Andren and Nriagu, 1979; Garrels et al., 1975; Jaworowski et al., 1981; Kothny, 1973; Lantzy and Mackenzie, 1979; McNeal and Rose, 1974; Slemr et al., 1981; Weiss et al., 1971)....

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  • ...More recent estimates tend towards lower numbers of between 0.8 and 5 x 109 g Hg (Andren and Nriagu, 1979; Lantzy and Mackenzie, 1979; Slemr et al., 1981)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, information on nineteen metals in atmospheric deposition potentially toxic to humans and other organisms was evaluated to conclude if metal concentrations are increasing in atmospheric deblurring and if these concentrations threaten human or organism health.

413 citations


"Distribution, speciation, and budge..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Since the total amount of 'reactive' mercury is dependent on the duration of sample storage (Matsunaga et al., 1979), a comparison and assessment of the rainwater data compiled by Galloway et al. (1982) is difficult....

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Journal ArticleDOI

353 citations


"Distribution, speciation, and budge..." refers background or result in this paper

  • ... Fitzgerald and Gill (1979) observed particulate mercury to be 1% of the TGM in clean marine air at Pigeon Key, Florida, and about 3.6% in an urban area....

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  • ...Similar to our observations, elevated TGM concentrations were also found by Thrane (1978), Fitzgerald and Gill (1979) , Windom and Taylor (1979) and Schroeder (1981)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
C.I.M. Beenakker1
TL;DR: In this article, a cavity is described by means of which a microwave induced plasma (MIP) can be obtained in argon and helium at atmospheric pressure using a low power microwave generator (P < 200 W).

315 citations


"Distribution, speciation, and budge..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...The AES detector was equipped with a Beenakker cavity ( Beenakker, 1976 ) operated with helium as a carrier gas instead of argon which was used in the TGM determinations....

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