Global mercury emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources

Abstract

Abstract. This paper provides an up-to-date assessment of global mercury emissions from anthropogenic and natural sources. On an annual basis, natural sources account for 5207 Mg of mercury released to the global atmosphere, including the contribution from re-emission processes, which are emissions of previously deposited mercury originating from anthropogenic and natural sources, and primary emissions from natural reservoirs. Anthropogenic sources, which include a large number of industrial point sources, are estimated to account for 2320 Mg of mercury emitted annually. The major contributions are from fossil-fuel fired power plants (810 Mg yr −1 ), artisanal small scale gold mining (400 Mg yr −1 ), non-ferrous metals manufacturing (310 Mg yr −1 ), cement production (236 Mg yr −1 ), waste disposal (187 Mg yr −1 ) and caustic soda production (163 Mg yr −1 ). Therefore, our current estimate of global mercury emissions suggests that the overall contribution from natural sources (primary emissions + re-emissions) and anthropogenic sources is nearly 7527 Mg per year, the uncertainty associated with these estimates are related to the typology of emission sources and source regions.

Concentration-weighted trajectory approach to identifying potential sources of speciated atmospheric mercury at an urban coastal site in Nova Scotia, Canada

“…Based on recent estimates of global Hg emissions, these non-industrial sources are emitting 5207 Mg of mercury annually and include both primary emissions from natural sources and reemissions of previously-deposited Hg from natural and industrial sources . This estimate is about 2.2 times greater than the annual industrial Hg emissions reported by Pirrone et al (2010). Therefore, even though there were grid cells with no Hg emitted to the air from industries, Hg emissions from other sources may have contributed to the CWT for GEM.…”

“…There is also the possibility that the gypsum mine is a source of PBM, since Hg is found in trace amounts in geological material and there are large particulate matter emissions from the mine. Artisanal gold mining is a significant source of Hg globally (Telmer and Veiga, 2009;Pirrone et al, 2010). Nova Scotia was known for its gold mining industry, which had used mercury amalgamation methods to extract gold .…”

Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic biosorption studies of Hg(II) on red algal biomass of Porphyridium cruentum

“…Naturally mercury exists in earth crust and metal is released into our environment through weathering of rocks and volcanic activities (2). Re-emission from soil, vegetation or sea surface is also considered an important natural source (3).…”

Characteristics and potential sources of atmospheric mercury at a subtropical near‐coastal site in East China

“…Natural emissions, including the emission from geologic sources and the reemission of previously deposited Hg, make up approximately two thirds of global Hg emission [Schroeder and Munthe, 1998]. Human activities emit 1960 Mg of Hg into the atmosphere per year with Asia contributing >50% of the release (777 Mg yr À1 from East and Southeast Asia) [Pirrone et al, 2010;Selin et al, 2007;United Nations Environment Programme, 2013]. East China (including Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong Provinces) is an important source region of atmospheric Hg in China, constituting approximately 20% of the total emissions [Wu et al, 2006].…”