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Mercury emission from industrially contaminated soils in relation to chemical, microbial, and meteorological factors
- Source :
- Environmental Pollution, Vol. 250, no.1, p. 944-952 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2019.
-
Abstract
- The Minamata Convention entered into force in 2017 with the aim to phase-out the use of mercury (Hg) in manufacturing processes such as the chlor-alkali or vinyl chloride monomer production. However, past industrial use of Hg had already resulted in extensive soil pollution, which poses a potential environmental threat. We investigated the emission of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) from Hg polluted soils in settlement areas in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, and its impact on local air Hg concentrations. Most soil Hg was found as soil matrix-bound divalent Hg (HgII). Elemental mercury (Hg0) was undetectable in soils, yet we observed substantial Hg0 emission (20–1392 ng m−2 h−1) from 27 soil plots contaminated with Hg (0.2–390 mg Hg kg−1). The emissions of Hg0 were calculated for 1274 parcels covering an area of 8.6 km2 of which 12% exceeded the Swiss soil remediation threshold of 2 mg Hg kg−1. The annual Hg0 emission from this area was approximately 6 kg a−1, which is almost 1% of the total atmospheric Hg emissions in Switzerland based on emission inventory estimates. Our results show a higher abundance of Hg resistance genes (merA) in soil microbial communities with increasing soil Hg concentrations, indicating that biotic reduction of HgII is likely an important pathway to form volatile Hg0 in these soils. The total soil Hg pool in the top 20 cm of the investigated area was 4288 kg; hence, if not remediated, these contaminated soils remain a long-term source of atmospheric Hg, which is prone to long-range atmospheric transport.
- Subjects :
- Meteorological Concepts
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
chemistry.chemical_element
010501 environmental sciences
Toxicology
01 natural sciences
Vinyl chloride
Soil
chemistry.chemical_compound
Drug Resistance, Bacterial
Industry
Soil Pollutants
Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Emission inventory
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Contaminated soils
Bacteria
Mercury
General Medicine
Contamination
Soil remediation
Soil contamination
Pollution
Mercury (element)
chemistry
Health
Environmental chemistry
Soil water
Environmental science
Environmental Pollution
Oxidoreductases
Switzerland
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental Pollution, Vol. 250, no.1, p. 944-952 (2019)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....02c1bae9141ffed0a81e38f33cb5f79e