Abstract. Correlation analyses between atmospheric mercury (Hg) and other trace gases are useful for identification of sources and constraining regional Hg emissions. Emissions of Hg in Asia contribute significantly to the global budget of atmospheric Hg. However, due to the lack of reliable data on the source strength, large uncertainties remain in the emission inventories of Hg in Asia. In the present study, we calculated the correlation slopes of GEM / CO, GEM / CO 2 , and GEM / CH 4 for mainland China, South Asia, the Indochinese Peninsula, and Central Asia using the ground-based observations at three remote sites in northwestern and southwestern China, and applied these values to estimate GEM emissions in the four source regions. The geometric mean GEM / CO correlation slopes for mainland China, South Asia, the Indochinese Peninsula, and Central Asia were 7.3 ± 4.3, 7.8 ± 6.4, 7.8 ± 5.0, and 13.4 ± 9.5 pg m −3 ppb −1 , respectively, and values in the same source regions were 33.3 ± 30.4, 27.4 ± 31.0, 23.5 ± 15.3, and 20.5 ± 10.0 pg m −3 ppb −1 for the GEM / CH 4 correlation slopes, respectively. The geometric means of GEM / CO 2 correlation slopes for mainland China, South Asia, and Central Asia were 240 ± 119, 278 ± 164, 315 ± 289 pg m −3 ppm −1 , respectively. These values were the first reported correlation slopes of GEM / CO, GEM / CO 2 , and GEM / CH 4 in four important source regions of Asia, not including the GEM / CO ratios in mainland China. The correlation slopes of GEM / CO, GEM / CO 2 , and GEM / CH 4 in Asia were relatively higher than those observed in Europe, North America, and South Africa, which may highlight GEM emissions from nonferrous smelting, large-scale and artisanal mercury and gold production, natural sources, and historically deposited mercury (re-emission) in Asia. Using the observed GEM / CO and GEM / CO 2 slopes, and the recently reported emission inventories of CO and CO 2 , the annual GEM emissions in mainland China, South Asia, the Indochinese Peninsula, and Central Asia were estimated to be in the ranges of 1071-1187, 340-470, 125, and 54-90 t, respectively. The estimated quantity of GEM emissions from the GEM / CH 4 correlation slopes is significantly larger, which may be due to the larger uncertainties in CH 4 emissions in Asia as well as insufficient observations of GEM / CH 4 correlation slopes, therefore leading to an overestimate of GEM emissions. Our estimates of GEM emissions in the four Asian regions were significantly higher (3-4 times) than the anthropogenic GEM emissions reported in recent studies. This discrepancy could come from a combination of reasons including underestimates of anthropogenic and natural GEM emissions; large uncertainties related to CO, CO 2 , and CH 4 emission inventories; and inherent limitations of the correlation slope method.

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To help mitigate and educate the negative impacts of emerging contaminants (ECs), this research tried to realize the environmental attitude and environmental behavioral intention of students in the field of environmental education at higher education level. However, little is known about integration of psychological distance, environmental attitude, behavioral intention and effective teaching strategies on emerging contaminants for undergraduate students within a behavior model. This research proposed a pro-environmental behavior model, integrated with Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) model and psychological distance to realize causal relationships among latent variables that instructors concerned. In a cross-sectional survey, this research effectively surveyed 851 respondents of five universities in Taiwan through self-report questionnaires. This research utilized bootstrapping manner and Smart-PLS software to identify the crucial relationships between two formative factors (environmental attachment and psychological distance), value and beliefs and behavior intention on ECs. The level of ECs knowledge was treated as a moderator, and results indicated significant moderator effects on environmental attachment toward environmental attitude, and environmental attitude toward behavioral intention. The results provide empirical support for some previous identified barriers to pro-environmental behavioral intention and suggest guidelines for effective pro-environmental behavior on ECs issues. Key words: partial least squares, behavioral intention, emerging contaminants, theory of planned behavior, value–belief–norm theory.

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