Sequential variation of atmospheric mercury in Tokai‐mura, seaside area of eastern central Japan

Abstract

in 140.36°E), a small city on the Pacific side of central Japan. The concentration of atmospheric mercury in summer and autumn is higher than in winter and spring, and an 11-month average of 1-hour measurements is 3.78 ± 1.62 ng/m 3 (n = 7551). Our results showed that changes in the GEM level in Tokai-mura are largely determined by temperature and relative humidity, but are independent of wind speed and direction. Two contrary patterns were observed in the daily cycle of GEM concentrations: the most frequent pattern of lower concentrations at noon and a pattern of higher concentrations at noon, which was only observed in November. Our results showed that two nearby potential anthropogenic sources of mercury, a coal-fired power plant and incineration facility, have only little effect on the gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in Tokai-mura based on only GEM measurements.

Air Concentrations of Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Vegetation–Air Fluxes within Saltmarshes of the Tagus Estuary, Portugal

“…These authors attributed the local atmospheric Hg(0) source to the emissions from industrial sectors in the region, with temporal patterns affected by anthropogenic and surface emissions, as well as atmospheric mixing and chemistry. Similar patterns were observed by Osawa et al [58], who measured atmospheric Hg(0) concentrations continuously during eleven months in Tokai-mura, Japan, and obtained an average concentration of 3.78 ± 1.62 ng m −3 (n = 7551). They suggested that changes in air Hg(0) concentrations were largely determined by temperature and relative humidity.…”

“…The distribution was characterized by significant variations throughout the sampling campaign; however, these air Hg(0) concentrations were in the same range of those found in industrial sites worldwide (0.5-20 ng m −3 ) [57]. Similar air Hg(0) concentrations were found in Tokai-mura, a small city on the Pacific side of central Japan (3.78 ± 1.62 ng m −3 , [58]), and in a coastal site of the Penghu Islands, where Jen et al [59] reported seasonal and daily variations of the air Hg(0) concentrations with average values of 3.17 ± 1.06 ng m −3 but in a narrower range than ours (1.17-8.63 ng m −3 ). Air Hg(0) concentrations in CN were higher than those reported by Weiss-Penzias et al [60] in areas with anthropogenic Hg inputs in Nevada, USA (1.8 ± 1.4 ng m −3 ), although within the same range (0.6-18.1 ng m −3 ).…”

“…All of these results point to the effect of an input of mercury with air movements influencing the local atmospheric Hg(0) concentrations. In contrast, in Tokai-mura, Japan, Osawa et al [58] reported that changes in the Hg(0) concentrations were largely determined by temperature and relative humidity and were independent of wind speed and direction, showing that the nearby potential anthropogenic sources of Hg-a coal-fired power plant and incineration facility-did not strongly contribute to the air Hg(0) concentrations over the long term, although reactive Hg may be emitted strongly by coal-fired power plants.…”

Atmospheric mercury concentrations at two sites in the Kyushu Islands, Japan, and evidence of long-range transport from East Asia

“…To obtain this type of information, continuous monitoring with a high time resolution is required. However, such continuous Hg monitoring data is currently not available in Japan (Osawa et al, 2007).…”

Characteristics of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations in an industrial complex in southern Korea: Impacts from local sources

“…Atmospheric Hg released from natural (e.g., volcanoes, volatilization from aquatic and terrestrial environments) (Pirrone et al, 2010;Strode et al, 2007) and anthropogenic sources (e.g., coal combustion, cement production, ferrous and non-ferrous metals manufacturing facilities, waste incineration and industrial boilers) (Pacyna et al, 2003(Pacyna et al, , 2006(Pacyna et al, , 2010Pirrone et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2015) when introduced into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem through wet and dry deposition (Mason and Sheu, 2002) can undergo various physical and chemical transformations before being deposited. Its lifetime in the atmosphere depends on its reactivity and solubility so that, depending on its form, it can have impacts on local, regional and global scales (Lin and Pehkonen, 1999;Lindberg et al, 2007).…”