Mercury in the Arctic atmosphere: An analysis of eight years of measurements of GEM at Alert (Canada) and a comparison with observations at Amderma (Russia) and Kuujjuarapik (Canada)

Steffen, Alexandra; Schroeder, W. H.; Macdonald, Robie W.; Poissant, Laurier; Konoplev, A.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.12.048

Cited by 130 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The studies in offshore areas have reported atmospheric Hg concentrations from 2 to 7 ng m À3 in the Yellow Sea [69] and the South China Sea [70,71]. These values are higher than that of the Arctic Ocean (1.6 ng m À3 ) [72], because the sampling sites were near large coastal cities. Generally, as a direct recipient of water from rivers, the coastal environment is largely determined by the water quality of rivers.…”

Section: Coastal Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

Environmental mercury in China: A review

Lin

Vogt

Larssen

2012

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

106

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Abstract-Mercury is a global pollutant that can be transported over long distances and can bioaccumulate. Currently, China is the country that contributes most to atmospheric Hg emissions and has the greatest intentional (industrial) use of Hg. Mercury in the Chinese environment is generally elevated, particularly in air and water bodies. Remote areas in China also show elevated Hg levels in air and water bodies compared to other rural regions in the world. Large river estuaries are often heavily affected by upstream industrial sources.

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Section: Coastal Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

Environmental mercury in China: A review

Lin

Vogt

Larssen

2012

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

106

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“…Long-term atmospheric measurements of GEM have been undertaken since 1995 Cole and Steffen, 2010) and speciation data have been collected since 2002. The unique GEM annual signature from Alert has been previously published Steffen et al, 2005;Cobbett et al, 2007;Cole and Steffen, 2010) showing northern hemispheric background levels in the fall and winter, lower concentrations in the spring and higher concentrations in the summer. The lifetime of atmospheric mercury depends on its chemical form and is considered to be GEM PHg > RGM (Schroeder and Munthe, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Ten years of atmospheric mercury speciation data and 14 years of mercury in snow data from Alert, Nunavut, Canada, are examined. The speciation data, collected from 2002 to 2011, includes gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), particulate mercury (PHg) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM). During the winter-spring period of atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs), when GEM is close to being completely depleted from the air, the concentration of both PHg and RGM rise significantly. During this period, the median concentrations for PHg is 28.2 pgm−3 and RGM is 23.9 pgm−3, from March to June, in comparison to the annual median concentrations of 11.3 and 3.2 pgm−3 for PHg and RGM, respectively. In each of the ten years of sampling, the concentration of PHg increases steadily from January through March and is higher than the concentration of RGM. This pattern begins to change in April when the levels of PHg peak and RGM begin to increase. In May, the high PHg and low RGM concentration regime observed in the early spring undergoes a transition to a regime with higher RGM and much lower PHg concentrations. The higher RGM concentration continues into June. The transition is driven by the atmospheric conditions of air temperature and particle availability. Firstly, a high ratio of the concentrations of PHg to RGM is reported at low temperatures which suggests that oxidized gaseous mercury partitions to available particles to form PHg. Prior to the transition, the median air temperature is −24.8 °C and after the transition the median air temperature is −5.8 °C. Secondly, the high PHg concentrations occur in the spring when high particle concentrations are present. The high particle concentrations are principally due to Arctic haze and sea salts. In the snow, the concentrations of mercury peak in May for all years. Springtime deposition of total mercury to the snow at Alert peaks in May when atmospheric conditions favour higher levels of RGM. Therefore, the conditions in the atmosphere directly impact when the highest amount of mercury will be deposited to the snow during the Arctic spring.

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“…3.1 and 3.2), the relative distribution of RGM and PHg is thought to indicate the age of an air parcel, and consequently the origin of an AMDE Gauchard et al, 2005;Lindberg et al, 2002;Sprovieri et al, 2005, Steffen et al, 2003a. At Alert the predominant specie is PHg, whereas RGM dominates at Barrow (Cobbett et al, 2007;Kirk, 2006;Lindberg et al, 2002;Steffen et al, 2005Steffen et al, , 2003c. Gauchard et al (2005) and Sprovieri et al (2005) indicated no predominance of either RGM or PHg in NyAlesund.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is converted to reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) during springtime Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE).This study reports the longest time series of GEM, RGM and particle-bound mercury (PHg) concentrations from a European Arctic site. From 27 April 2007 until 31 December 2008 composite GEM, RGM and PHg measurements were conducted in 11 • 53 E). The average concentrations of the complete dataset were 1.6 ± 0.3 ng m −3 , 8 ± 13 pg m −3 and 8 ± 25 pg m −3 for GEM, RGM and PHg, respectively. For the complete dataset the atmospheric mercury distribution was 99 % GEM, whereas RGM and PHg constituted <1 %. The study revealed a seasonal distribution of GEM, RGM and PHg previously undiscovered in the Arctic. Increased concentrations of RGM were observed during the insolation period from March through August, while increased PHg concentrations occurred almost exclusively during the spring AMDE period in March and April. The elevated RGM concentrations suggest that atmospheric RGM deposition also occurs during the polar summer. RGM was suggested as the precursor for the PHg existence, but long range transportation of PHg has to be taken into consideration. Still there remain gaps in the knowledge of how RGM and PHg are related in the environment. RGM and PHg accounted for on average about 10 % Correspondence to: A. O. Steen (anne.steen@chem.ntnu.no) of the depleted GEM during AMDEs. Although speculative, the fairly low RGM and PHg concentrations supported by the predominance of PHg with respect to RGM and no clear meteorological regime associated with these AMDEs would all suggest the events to be of non-local origin. With some exceptions, no clear meteorological regime was associated with the GEM, RGM and PHg concentrations throughout the year.

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Mercury in the Arctic atmosphere: An analysis of eight years of measurements of GEM at Alert (Canada) and a comparison with observations at Amderma (Russia) and Kuujjuarapik (Canada)

Cited by 130 publications

References 31 publications

Environmental mercury in China: A review

Environmental mercury in China: A review

Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study

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