Mercury associated with size-fractionated urban particulate matter: three years of sampling in Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

An analysis of suspended particulate matter, with an emphasis on the Hg chemical forms, is presented. Dust samples originating from an area highly affected by traffic pollution in the city of Prague (Czech Republic) were sampled over a period of three years from air-conditioner filters and fractioned by size. The samples were morphologically characterised by scanning electron microscopy. The main method used for the analysis of constituent mercury compounds was sequential extraction by leaching solutions in combination with thermal desorption. The total mercury content ranged from 0.37 mg kg−1 to 0.82 mg kg−1. It emerged that the mercury was distributed in a wide spectrum of forms, and various trends in the distribution of these forms among the different size classes were observed. The fraction leached by nitric acid (consisting of elemental and complex-bound mercury) was the main constituent of total mercury. The highest content of this fraction was observed in the finest particle size class. The heterogeneity of morphology of the material increased with the size fraction.

Fractionation Analysis of Mercury in Soils: A Comparison of Three Techniques for Bioavailable Mercury Fraction Determination

“…In extraction procedure A, the labile fraction of mercury was determined as the sum of water‐soluble mercury compounds (fraction F1) and mercury releasable in slightly acidic environments (fraction F2). Mercury compounds released as the sum of F1 + F2 are often referred to as “mobile forms” of mercury and primarily contain mercury chloride, carbonate‐associated mercury, mercury oxide, mercury nitrates, mercury sulfate, and organomercury species (Zverina et al 2014). In uncontaminated soils (nos.…”

“…The sequential extraction procedures designated as extraction procedure A (Zverina et al 2014) and extraction procedure B (Fernandez‐Martinez et al 2014) were used for fractionation analyses of mercury in the soil samples. Procedure A (Zverina et al 2014) is based on the method published by Bloom et al (2003) and Coufalik et al (2011).…”

“…Extraction method A (Zverina et al 2014) enabled division of the total mercury in the soil samples into 6 groups: 1) water‐soluble mercury compounds, 2) mercury releasable in a slightly acidic environment, 3) organically bound mercury, 4) elemental mercury, 5) mercury sulfide, and 6) residual mercury. The extraction steps were conducted with 0.1 g of treated soil and 10 mL of extraction solution.…”

“…Up to the present day, no fractionation and speciation of mercury from the farm soil collected in the cadastral territory of the village of Neřežín have taken place. Moreover, the present study deals with a comparison of two significantly different sequential extraction procedures (Fernandez‐Martinez et al 2014; Zverina et al 2014) applied for the fractionation of mercury in soils and their comparison with the DGT technique for the determination of the bioavailable fraction of mercury.…”

Spatial Distribution and Source Identification of Mercury in Dust Affected by Gold Mining in Johannesburg, South Africa

“…However, dust had the higher amount of quartz as compared to the tailings materials. This could be attributed to the larger concentration of smaller particle size fractions with a large surface area, which allows enrichment of different minerals and mineral phases to take place [18,19,20]. The presence of quartz in large quantities reflects the original type of rock present in this region.…”