Published August 27, 2022 | Version v3
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Gaseous Elemental Mercury in Air of the Former Mercury Mine and in the Vicinity of the Cement Production Facility

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School

Contributors

Project leader:

Supervisor:

  • 1. Jozef Stefan Institute

Description

In this project, we quantify the atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations in Idrija, the former mercury mine and the cement production facility, Salonit-Anhovo, located in Slovenia using three air Hg monitoring techniques, namely; the Tekran system, Lumex RA-915M, and biomonitoring using lichens. Hg emission data were recorded from the cement facility. 

Continuous GEM atmospheric concentration measurements were performed using the Tekran system over one year (December 6, 2019 ‒ December 31, 2020) at Vodarna in the cement plant vicinity. GEM concentration values recorded from the Tekran system range from 0.1 ng/m3 ‒ 29.5 ng/m3. Wind direction plays an important role in atmospheric Hg concentrations. The analysis revealed that strong winds in the direction of the Vodarna from the cement plant and high levels of Hg emissions from the plant emanating influenced high GEM concentrations in this particular sampling location. 

GEM concentrations were also measured using the Lumex detector at all sampling locations. GEM concentrations in the vicinity of the former Idrija smelting plant recorded higher values (up to 78.2 ng/m3) compared to values recorded at the cement plant vicinity and the reference location on Pokljuka (up to 2 ng/m3). Also, a comparison of the past and present measurement trends of Hg in air showed a decrease from 20 000 ‒ 14 ng/m3 at the smeltery site and 6 000 ‒ 4 ng/m3 within the Idrija town between 1974 ‒ 2020.

THg in in situ (Punctelia subrudecta and Flavoparmelia caperata) and transplanted lichen samples (Hypogymnia Physodes) were conducted for a period of 3 and 6 months respectively. Lichens were analysed after proper preparation by AAS detector Model Hg-201 Semi-automated Hg Analyzer. Results from both the in situ and transplanted lichens showed that lichens are very sensitive to air contamination and are known to accumulate compounds and elements in amounts that closely correlate with atmospheric levels. Also, after comparing the results of THg in lichens and GEM measurements using the air active measurements, a strong positive correlation was obtained, indicating that lichens can be used as a cost-effective technique for Hg monitoring. 

 

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Related works

Cites
Journal article: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.06.061 (DOI)

References

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