Considerations of the enrichment, sources, and flux of arsenic in the troposphere

Abstract

The tropospheric burden of arsenic has been estimated from representative global surface concentrations and an estimated small particle tropospheric scale height of 3.9 km to be ∼8×108 g As. Total atmospheric arsenic emissions from both natural and anthropogenic sources have been estimated to be 31×109 g As/yr. On a global basis the major source of atmospheric arsenic appears to be from anthropogenic volatilization processes, and the major natural sources of arsenic appear to be volcanoes and the terrestrial biosphere. Total atmospheric arsenic removal is estimated to be 30–50×109 g As/yr. The global tropospheric residence time of arsenic appears to be about 9 days.

Arsenic-bearing pyrite and marcasite in the Fire Clay coal bed, Middle Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation, eastern Kentucky

“…Walsh et al (1979) estimate that As releases from power plants account for about 1.8% of total global atmospheric emissions. However, neither the US nor Canada regulates As emission from coal-fired power plants, primarily because the coals used in combustion contain relatively low levels of As.…”

Estimation of Multimedia Inorganic Arsenic Intake in the U.S. Population

“…Estimates are that particulate arsenic in ambient air has a mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of 1 µm and that 90% is of particles ≤ 3.5 µm in diameter (Walsh et al 1979). To be conservative, it was assumed for the model that all of the TSP arsenic is contained in the respirable fraction of 1 µm MMAD.…”

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals: The Use of Green Approaches to Clean the Environment

“…In this process plants uptake the contaminants by roots and accumulate in the aerial parts or shoots of (Bissen and Frimmel 2003 ;Walsh et al 1979 ) 2 Cu Timber treatment, fertilizers, fungicides, electroplating industry, smelting and refi ning, mining, biosolids (Liu et al 2005 ) 3 Cd Anthropogenic activities, smelting and refi ning, fossil fuel burning, application of phosphate fertilizers, sewage sludge (Alloway 1995 ;Kabata-Pendias 2001 ) 4 Pb Batteries, metal products, mining and smelting of metalliferous ores, burning of leaded gasoline, municipal sewage, industrial wastes enriched in Pb, paints (Gisbert et al 2003 ;Seaward and Richardson 1990 ) 5 Cr Timber treatment, leather tanning, pesticides and dyes, electroplating industry (Knox et al 1999 ;Gowd et al 2010 ) 6 Hg Fumigants and fertilizers, volcano eruptions, forest fi re, emissions from industries producing caustic soda, coal, peat, and wood burning (Lindqvist 1991 ) 7 Zn Dyes, paints, timber treatment, fertilizers and mine tailings, electroplating industry, smelting and refi ning, mining (Liu et al 2005 ) 8 Ni Alloys, batteries and mine tailings, volcanic eruptions, land fi ll, forest fi re, bubble bursting, and gas exchange in ocean (Knox et al 1999 ) 9 Cd, Pb, and As Over application of fertilizers and pesticides (Atafar et al 2010 ) 10 Pb Commercial organic fertilizer (Wang et al 2013 ) 11 Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn Urban and industrial wastewater used in agricultural practices (Hani and Pazira 2011 ) the plant and fi nally it is harvested and disposed of (Vishnoi and Srivastava 2007 ). The plant-based remediation technology is one of the largest technologies to remediate the heavy metal pollution from the environment (Raskin et al 1997 ).…”