A New Low-Cost and Reliable Method to Evaluate the Release of Hg0 from Synthetic Materials

Marta Lazzaroni,Marta Lazzaroni,Daniele Rappuoli,Barbara Nisi,Jacopo Cabassi,Orlando Vaselli,Orlando Vaselli,Orlando Vaselli

doi:10.3390/pr8101282

Abstract

Mercury is a toxic and noxious element and is the only metal that naturally occurs as gas. One of the most challenging topics (included in the United Nations Minimata convention) is to understand the adsorption–release processes of manmade materials (e.g., concrete, bricks, tiles, painting). Adsorption of Hg by construction and demolition waste materials has recently been studied, but investigations on how much Hg0 can be released from these products are rather poor. The abandoned mining site of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, central Italy) where, for about one century, cinnabar was roasted to produce liquid mercury, is known for the high concentrations of (i) Hg0 in edifices and structures and (ii) total and leachate Hg in synthetic materials. In the present paper, a new, simple and low-cost method to measure the amount of GEM (Gaseous Elemental Mercury) released from anthropic materials (concrete, wall rocks, and tiles) located in the Hg0-rich environments of the former mining site, is proposed. The efficiency of a specific paint that was supposed to act as blocking agent to Hg0 was also tested.

Highlights

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified mercury in the top ten chemicals that are regarded as a major public health concern
Considering the requalification of industrial-mining sites to museums or public areas where the production of liquid mercury has been active for a long time
Considering the requalification industrial-mining sites to museums or public areas where the are of pivotal importance

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified mercury in the top ten chemicals that are regarded as a major public health concern. The Minamata event, officially recognized as the Minamata disease in 1956, e.g., [1,2], demonstrated the negative effects produced by methyl-mercury (Me-Hg) due to the human consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish, which biomagnified and bioaccumulated. Me-Hg mercury contained in the wastewaters discharged into the sea by a local chemical plant. The full comprehension of the processes able to induce toxicity is still to be clarified e.g., [3,4,5]. Me-Hg is not the only mercury compound able to negatively affect the human health. It has been shown that mercury vapor (Hg0 ), commonly referred to as GEM

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