Air Contamination by Mercury, Emissions and Transformations—a Review

Gworek, Barbara; Dmuchowski, Wojciech; Baczewska, A.H.; Brągoszewska, Paulina; Bemowska-Kałabun, Olga; Wrzosek-Jakubowska, Justyna

doi:10.1007/s11270-017-3311-y

Cited by 79 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 206 publications

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“…In estimating these impacts, state institutions mainly focus on inventories of their sources, while international organizations apply different models and use emission factors and statistical data of industrial production and consumption of Hg-containing materials. It is particularly difficult to distinguish natural and anthropogenic emissions from re-emissions from the land and oceans [16,17]. Hg emission sources include both natural processes unfolding in the biosphere and anthropogenic sources.…”

Section: Hg Emissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury in the terrestrial environment: a review

2020

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Background Environmental contamination by mercury is and will continue to be a serious risk for human health. Pollution of the terrestrial environment is particularly important as it is a place of human life and food production. This publication presents a review of the literature on issues related to mercury pollution of the terrestrial environment: soil and plants and their transformations. Results Different forms of atmospheric Hg may be deposited on surfaces by way of wet and dry processes. These forms may be sequestered within terrestrial compartments or emitted back into the atmosphere, and the relative importance of these processes is dependent on the form of Hg, the surface chemistry, and the environmental conditions. On the land surface, Hg deposition mainly occurs in the oxidized form (Hg2+), and its transformations are associated primarily with the oxidation–reduction potential of the environment and the biological and chemical processes of methylation. The deposition of Hg pollutants on the ground with low vegetation is as 3–5 times lower than that in forests. The estimation of Hg emissions from soil and plants, which occur mainly in the Hg0 form, is very difficult. Generally, the largest amounts of Hg are emitted from tropical regions, followed by the temperate zone, and the lowest levels are from the polar regions. Areas with vegetation can be ranked according to the size of the emissions as follows: forests > other areas (tundra, savannas, and chaparral) > agricultural areas > grassland ecosystems; areas of land devoid of vegetation emit more Hg than those with plants. In areas with high pollution, such as areas near Hg mines, the Hg content in soil and plants is much higher than in other areas. Conclusions Mercury is recognized as a toxic, persistent, and mobile contaminant; it does not degrade in the environment and becomes mobile because of the volatility of the element and several of its compounds. Atmospheric contamination by mercury continues to be one of the most important environmental problems in the modern world. The general conclusions were drawn from a review of the literature and presented in this paper.

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Section: Hg Emissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury in the terrestrial environment: a review

2020

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“…Moreover, its concentration in air strongly depends from the volatility degrees of its compounds, which are related to the surrounding temperature. Current emissions of mercury from natural and anthropogenic sources include gold mining and processing, fuel combustion, catalysis in plastics or batteries production [3]. Mercury can be present in the atmosphere in three different forms: the gaseous elemental mercury Hg° (GEM), which can be converted into gaseous oxidized mercury Hg(II) (GOM) and particle bound mercury HgP(2.5) (PBM) [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Hg vapours adsorption and detection by using functionalized gold nanoparticles network

Bearzotti

Papa

Macagnano

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

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“…In Southeast Asia, the two largest emission sources of Hg are coal combustion and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (Pacyna et al, 2016;United Nations Environment Programme, 2019), neither of which are practised in Singapore. Given that the recent increase in Hg fluxes is concomitant with increased coal consumption in the region (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2016) along with a recent rise in amalgamation-based gold production (Gworek et al, 2017), there is strong circumstantial evidence that the study site is being increasingly impacted by transboundary atmospheric pollution.…”

Section: Highly Developed State: Effects Of Increasing Transboundary mentioning

confidence: 99%

A century of anthropogenic environmental change in tropical Asia: Multi-proxy palaeolimnological evidence from Singapore’s Central Catchment

2019

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The environmental ramifications of rapid development on the functioning of warm tropical freshwater ecosystems are poorly understood. Here, a multi-proxy palaeolimnological approach is used to examine the nature and degree of anthropogenic environmental change in a tropical lowland reservoir in Singapore. Singapore has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past century, transitioning from a country with a largely agrarian landscape to one that is highly urbanised. Two radiometrically dated sediment cores were retrieved from one of the country’s oldest reservoirs and analysed for spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), mercury (Hg), atomic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), stable C and N isotopes (δ13C and δ15N), and diatoms. The sedimentary data show clear evidence of atmospheric pollution and nutrient enrichment as a result of human activities in Singapore and the region. During the early stages of Singapore’s development (1900s–1960s), the reservoir was minimally impacted and characterised by oligotrophic conditions. As the country began to industrialise and urbanise (1970s–1990s), the SCP data indicate increasing contamination by air pollutants derived from domestic sources of fossil fuel combustion, while the diatom, C/N, δ13C, and δ15N data suggest that the reservoir was becoming more productive, possibly from N depositions arising from an increase in electricity generation and a rapid expansion in transport infrastructure in Singapore. As the pace of development in Singapore slowed down (1990s–the present), the sedimentary data collectively indicate increasing depositions of atmospheric pollutants and nutrient enrichment mediated by a warming climate. A substantial component of increased atmospheric pollution is likely to be of distal, and thus transboundary, origin.

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Air Contamination by Mercury, Emissions and Transformations—a Review

Cited by 79 publications

References 206 publications

Mercury in the terrestrial environment: a review

Mercury in the terrestrial environment: a review

Environmental Hg vapours adsorption and detection by using functionalized gold nanoparticles network

A century of anthropogenic environmental change in tropical Asia: Multi-proxy palaeolimnological evidence from Singapore’s Central Catchment

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