Abstract
Observations are described from total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations measured at the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Fort McMurray—Patricia McInnes air quality monitoring station—from 21 October 2010 through 31 May 2013, inclusively. Fort McMurray is approximately 380 km north-northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, and approximately 30 km south of major Canadian oil sands developments. The average TGM concentration over the period of this study was 1.45 ± 0.18 ng∙m−3. Principal component analysis suggests that observed TGM concentrations are correlated with meteorological conditions including temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation, and also ozone concentration. There is no significant correlation between ambient concentrations of TGM and anthropogenic pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). Principal component analysis also shows that the highest TGM concentrations observed are a result of forest fire smoke near the monitoring station. Back trajectory analysis highlights the importance of long-range transport, indicating that unseasonably high TGM concentrations are generally associated with air from the southeast and west, while unseasonably low TGM concentrations are a result of arctic air moving over the monitoring station. In general, TGM concentration appears to be driven by diel and seasonal trends superimposed over a combination of long-range transport and regional surface-air flux of gaseous mercury.
Highlights
Total gaseous mercury (TGM) is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, persisting for up to 1.5 years, making mercury a pollutant of global concern due to potential long-range transport [1]
total gaseous mercury (TGM) consists of both gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM), with typical ambient TGM concentrations in the range of 1.3–1.7 ng∙m−3 in the northern hemisphere [1,5,6]; within the province of Alberta in Canada, mean hourly TGM concentrations have been measured in the range of 1.36–1.65 ng∙m−3 [7,8]
The results show that TGM concentrations are comparable to that measured at other stations in the province of Alberta
Summary
Total gaseous mercury (TGM) is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, persisting for up to 1.5 years, making mercury a pollutant of global concern due to potential long-range transport [1]. Mercury can exist in several forms in the atmosphere. The bulk (95–97%) of atmospheric mercury exists as gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), while the remainder consists of gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) ( referred to as reactive gaseous mercury), and particulate bound mercury (PBM) [2,3,4]. Each form of mercury varies in its removal efficiencies via wet or dry deposition to surfaces where it can undergo further reactions, such as methylation to enhance toxicity and undergo bioaccumulation within the ecosystem [1,9]. A unique feature of mercury is its ability to re-emit following deposition, effectively increasing the atmospheric lifetime and global distribution of mercury. Mercury can be found—to varying degrees—in all ecosystems, even in locations greatly removed from any major sources
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