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GASEOUS ELEMENTAL MERCURY IN THE MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER: EVIDENCE FOR RAPID REMOVAL IN ANTHROPOGENIC POLLUTION
Citation:
WeissPenzias, P., D. Jaffe, A. McClintick, E. Prestbo, AND M S. Landis. GASEOUS ELEMENTAL MERCURY IN THE MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER: EVIDENCE FOR RAPID REMOVAL IN ANTHROPOGENIC POLLUTION. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 37(17):3755-3763, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
The overall research objective of this task is to improve our understanding of the emission, transport, transformation, and deposition of atmospheric mercury. Information garnered from this research is used to improve and evaluate EPA deterministic models that are used to investigate the (i) relative impact to local, regional, and global sources to atmospheric mercury deposition, and (ii) benefits of various emission reduction scenarios.
Specifically, individual research project objectives are listed below:
(1) Evaluate the ability of speciated mercury (Hg0, Hg2+, HgP) measurements to aid source apportionment models in identifying anthropogenic source contributions to atmospheric mercury deposition
(2) Elucidate the contribution of coal combustion sources to observed mercury wet deposition in the Ohio River Valley
(3) Obtain atmospheric profiles (200 - 12,000 ft) of speciated ambient mercury off the south Florida Coast
- Evaluate the role of long range transport of RGM to Florida in the marine free troposphere.
- Identify any vertical mercury gradients that might indicate the presence of rapid mercury chemistry in air or in cloud water.
(4) Conduct research at Mauna Loa Observatory to elucidate elemental mercury oxidation in the remote marine free troposphere.
(5) Conduct laboratory kinetics experiments to determine the rate constants of elemental mercury oxidation to gaseous inorganic divalent mercury species from atmospheric halide species (e.g. BrO, ClO).
Description:
In this study, gas-phase elemental mercury (Hg0) and related species (including inorganic reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and particulate mercury (PHg)) were measured at Cheeka Peak Observatory (CPO), Washington State, in the marine boundary layer (MBL) during 2001-2002. Air of continental origin containing anthropogenic pollutants from the urban areas to the east contained on average 5.3% lower Hg0 levels compared to the marine background. This result is difficult to reconcile since it is known that industrial emissions in our region are sources of Hg0. The rate of removal of Hg0 from a pollution plume necessary to account for our observations is inconsistent with the accepted view of Hg0 as a stable atmospheric pollutant. The largest and most frequent Hg0 loss events occurred in the presence of increased ozone (O3) during the summer. Hg0 and O3 also display diurnal cycles that are out-of-phase with one another. In other seasons Hg0 behavior is less consistent, as we observe weak positive correlations with O3, and occasional Hg0 enhancements in local pollution. RGM and PHg concentrations are enhanced only slightly during Hg0 loss events, comprising a small fraction of the mercury pool (~3%). Long-range transported pollution of Asian origin was also detected at CPO and this contains both higher and lower levels of Hg0 compared to the background, with maximum changes being < 20%. Here, the more photochemically processed the air mass, as determined by propane/ethane ratios, the more likely we are to observe Hg0 loss. Air from the marine background in summer displays a significant diurnal cycle with a phase that matches the diurnal cycles seen in polluted air masses. A Junge lifetime for Hg0 in the clean marine boundary layer is calculated to be 7.1 months, which is on the low end of previous estimates (1/2 -2 years).
This work was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of International Affairs and Office of Research and Development (Cooperative Agreement X-82825001-0). It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use.