Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere (eBook)

Nicola Pirrone is Director of the Institute for Atmospheric Pollution of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IIA) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences of the University of Michigan. He is Chair of the UNEP Global Partnership for Mercury Air Transport and Fate Research, Chair of the WG on Global Atmospheric Mercury Models Intercomparison within the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants (TF HTAP) of the UN-ECE-LRTAP convention and Chair of the CEN-TC264 WG that is preparing the European Standard Methods for monitoring mercury concentrations in ambient air and precipitations. He has been Chair of the European WG that prepared the "Air Quality Position Paper on Mercury" that is one of the scientific background documents of the Forth Air Quality Daughter Directive of the European Union. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on different topics associated to atmospheric transport, chemistry and policy relevant issues related to major at-mospheric pollutants. Robert Mason is a Professor at the University of Connecticut with a joint appointment in the Departments of Marine Sciences and Chemistry. His research focus is the cycling of mercury in the biosphere with emphasis on the atmosphere and on air-sea exchange and redox reactions in the atmospheric boundary layer and the surface ocean. In addition, his research has a focus on mercury methylation in coastal ecosystems and other environments. Mason has an active research group with currently 4 PhD students and a post-doc. He is the author/coauthor of about 100 papers on mercury and is actively involved in a number of national and international mercury initiatives. Mason obtained his undergraduate and Master's degree in South Africa and his PhD at the University of Connecticut in 1991. He was a professor at the University of Maryland before returning to the University of Connecticut in 2005.

Preface 5
Acknowledgments 7
Contents 8
About the Editors 11
Contributing Authors 12
External reviewers 15
Sources of Mercury Released to the Global Atmosphere 16
Global Mercury Emissions to the Atmosphere from Natural and Anthropogenic Sources 17
1.1 Introduction 17
1.2 Mercury Emissions from Natural Sources 19
1.3 Mercury Emissions from Anthropogenic Sources 24
1.4 Global Assessment 51
1.5 Further Research 53
References 56
Mercury Emissions from Coal Combustion in China 64
2.1 Introduction 64
2.2 Results and Discussion 65
2.3 Mercury Released to the Atmosphere 68
2.4 Emission Trends in China 70
2.5 Future Mercury Emissions from Coal Combustion 74
2.6 Future Research and Policy Implications 76
References 77
Mercury Emissions from Industrial Sources in China 79
3.1 Introduction 79
3.2 Emission Factors from Different Industrial Sources in China 81
3.3 Speciation of Mercury Compounds from Different Industrial Sources in China 83
3.4 Emissions from Different Industrial Sources in China in 1999 83
3.5 Mercury Emission Trends from 1995 to 2003 85
3.6 Uncertainties 88
3.7 Future Research and Policy Implications 89
References 89
Mercury Emissions from Industrial Sources in India and its Effects in the Environment 92
4.1 Introduction 93
4.2 Results 97
4.3 Iron and Steel industry 102
4.4 Chlor-alkali Industry in India 104
4.5 Cement Industry 107
4.6 Wastes Disposal 108
4.7 Biomass Burning 111
4.8 Miscellaneous 112
4.9 Mercury in the Indian Environment and the Cycling in the Bio- geosphere 114
4.10 Discussion 116
4.11 Future Directions 118
References 121
Mercury Emissions from Point Sources in South Africa 124
5.1 Introduction 124
5.2 Current Understanding of Mercury Emissions and Levels in South Africa 125
5.3 Monitoring Hg Emissions in South Africa 137
5.4 Gaps in Our Current Understanding 138
5.5 Research Needs 138
References 139
World Emissions of Mercury from Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining 142
6.1 Introduction 142
6.2 Why Mercury is Used 143
6.3 Where ASGM is Occurring 149
6.4 Amount of mercury used in ASGM 149
Appendix 1 154
6.5 Reported Trade in Mercury and Gold 162
6.6 Knowledge Gaps about Mercury in ASGM 169
6.7 Reducing Mercury use in ASGM 174
6.8 Conclusions 177
References 178
Mercury Emissions from Natural Processes and their Importance in the Global Mercury Cycle 184
7.1 Introduction 184
7.2 Estimates of Oceanic Evasion 189
7.2 Estimates of Net Terrestrial Evasion 192
References 198
Mercury Emissions from Global Biomass Burning: Spatial and Temporal Distribution 203
8.1 Introduction 203
8.2 Results and Discussion 214
8.3 Future Work 225
8.4 Policy Implications 226
References 226
Spatial Coverage and Temporal Trends of Mercury Measurements 231
Spatial Coverage and Temporal Trends of Land- based Atmospheric Mercury Measurements in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres 232
9.1 Introduction 232
9.2 Measurements of Air Concentrations in North America 235
9.3 Measurements of Air Concentrations in South America 270
9.4 Measurements of Air Concentrations in Europe 273
9.5 Measurements of Air Concentrations in Asia 287
9.6 Measurements of Air Concentrations in Africa 290
9.7 Summary and Conclusion 291
References 293
Spatial Coverage and Temporal Trends of Atmospheric Mercury Measurements in Polar Regions 301
10.1 Introduction 301
10.2 Results and Discussion 304
10.3 Gaps of Knowledge, Future Research and Policy Implications 322
References 324
Spatial Coverage and Temporal Trends of Over- Water, Air- Surface Exchange, Surface and Deep Sea Water Mercury Measurements 330
11.1 Introduction 330
11.2 Over-Water Mercury Measurements 333
11.3 Air-Water Mercury Exchange 346
11.4 Surface and Deep Sea Water Mercury Measurements 368
References 380
Monitoring and Modeling the Fate of Mercury Species in Japan 388
12.1 Introduction 388
12.2 Monitoring Project for Ambient Atmospheric Mercury and Other Heavy Metals in a Remote Background Location 389
12.3 Fate Analysis of Mercury Species for the Monitoring Data Using a Multimedia Environmental Fate Model 394
12.4 Future Directions 397
References 397
The Need for a Coordinated Global Mercury Monitoring Network for Global and Regional Models Validations 398
13.1 Introduction 398
13.2 Existing Global Monitoring Programs 401
13.3 Measurements and Model Development 404
13.4 Establishment of the Coordinated Global Mercury Monitoring Network ( CGMMN) 413
13.5 Coordinated Monitoring and Modelling 416
References 426
Understanding Atmospheric Mercury on Hemispheric and Global Scales 432
Our Current Understanding of Major Chemical and Physical Processes Affecting Mercury Dynamics in the Atmosphere and At the Air- Water/ Terrestrial Interfaces 433
14.1 Introduction 433
14.2 Homogeneous Gas Phase Transformation 434
14.3 Specific Reaction Systems 439
14.4 Gas Phase Oxidation: Issues and Uncertainties 452
14.5 Mercury Chemistry in the Atmospheric Aqueous Phase 452
14.6 The Uncertainty due to Hg Chemistry in Atmospheric Models 457
14.7 Deposition Processes 457
References 459
Mercury Chemical Transformation in the Gas, Aqueous and Heterogeneous Phases: State- of- the- art Science and Uncertainties 464
15.1 Introduction 464
15.2 Atmospheric Oxidation and Reductions 467
15.3 Theoretical Evaluation of Kinetic Data 485
15.4 Reactions at Interfaces: Heterogeneous Reactions 489
15.5 Open Questions and Future Directions 496
References 498
Importance of a Global Scale Approach to using Regional Models in the Assessment of Source- Receptor Relationships for Mercury 507
16.1 Introduction 507
16.2 Previous Testing and Application 509
16.3 Testing Model Sensitivities to Intercontinental Transport 514
16.4 Future Research and Policy Implications 518
References 520
Global Mercury Modelling at Environment Canada 522
17.1 Introduction 522
17.2 Model Description 523
17.3 Results and Discussion 525
17.4 Uncertainties and Future Research 533
References 534
The Geos-Chem Model 536
18.1 Introduction 536
18.2 Model Description 537
18.3 Results/Discussion 539
18.4 Uncertainties in Model Results and Future Research 546
References 547
The ECHMERIT Model 549
19.1 Introduction 549
19.2 Model Description 551
19.3 Results/Discussion 554
19.4 Future Research and Policy Implications 570
References 570
The EMEP/MSC-E Mercury Modeling System 572
20.1 Introduction 572
20.2 Model Description 573
20.3 Results and Discussion 577
20.4 Uncertainty and Future Research 585
References 585
The AER/EPRI Global Chemical Transport Model for Mercury ( CTM- HG) 589
21.1 Description of the CTM-Hg 589
21.2 Emission Inventory 590
21.3 Atmospheric Chemistry of Mercury 591
21.4 Model Performance Evaluation 593
21.5 Source/Receptor Relationships 595
21.6 Conclusion 599
References 600
List of Figures 603
List of Tables 613
Acronyms 620
Index 626