• Title/Summary/Keyword: gaseous mercury

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A Review on Total Gaseous Mercury Concentration Levels in the East Asia

  • Kim, Ki-Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2003
  • In this work, the present concentration levels of total gaseous mercury (TGM) are compared among three East Asian countries, Korea, China, and Japan. Comparison of Hg distribution patterns was made by selecting representative figures for each type of land use among those three countries. The results of the analysis indicate that Hg concentrations within a country can fall into a wide range due probably to the diversity of source processes. It is seen that the urban areas of China and Japan generally exhibit large spatial variability with notably high Hg levels (above 10 ng m$^{-3}$), compared to their Korean counterparts. Although the presence of high Hg levels in Chinese locations can be accounted for by the major man-made source processes (e.g., the use of coal), the causes of unexpectedly high Hg data in Japanese sites appear to be rather complicated. The Hg concentration levels in relatively remote locations however show much reduced values, above 3 ng m$^{-3}$, which is still higher than the typical background concentrations of 1 to 2 ng m$^{-3}$ in Europe or America. Considering that the presence of unusually high Hg levels in urban areas of Asia is the consequence of man-made activities, the prevalence of excessively high Hg values in certain regions of the Asian continent needs further research to accurately assess the fundamental picture of Hg geochemistry in the East Asia.

Characteristics of Gaseous Dissolved Mercury and Total Mercury in Yangsuri Marsh of Korea (양수리 용늪의 용존 수은 및 총수은 농도 특성에 대한 연구)

  • Yang, Ji-Hye;Han, Young-Ji;Kim, Pyung-Rae;Park, Sang-Young;Seo, Yong-Seok;Lee, Jong-Hwan;Kim, Moon-Kyung;Yi, Seung-Muk;Cho, Kyung-Deok
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.34 no.12
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    • pp.801-809
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    • 2012
  • Long-term measurement of total mercury (TM) and dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) were performed in Yangsuri marsh. Average TM and DGM concentrations were $2.0{\pm}2.0$ ng/L and $15.0{\pm}2.8$ pg/L, respectively, indicating that only 2.6% of TM existed as the form of DGM in Yangsuri marsh. While TM did not show the seasonal variation a statistically high DGM concentration was observed in warm season, indicating that DGM was effectively produced by strong solar radiation and high water temperature. There was no relationship between TM and DGM concentrations in Yangsuri marsh, as observed in other studies. DGM in Yangsuri marsh was supersaturated for most of sampling period; therefore, one can conclude that $Hg^0$ in water surface can readily volatilize to the atmosphere.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Speciated Gaseous Mercury in Chuncheon, Korea (춘천시 대기 중 가스상 수은 종 농도 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Gan, Sun-Yeong;Yi, Seung-Muk;Han, Young-Ji
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.31 no.5
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    • pp.382-391
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    • 2009
  • Atmospheric speciated mercury concentrations including total gaseous mercury (TGM) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) were measured in Chuncheon from March 2006 to November 2008. Average concentrations were 2.10 ${\pm}$ 1.50 ng/$m^3$ and 3.00 ${\pm}$ 3.14 pg/$m^3$ for TGM and RGM, respectively. RGM concentrations were higher during daytime than nighttime probably because of high photochemical activities. We found that RGM concentration considerably increased as ozone increased when fog occurred, indicating that ozone was the important oxidant for $Hg^0$ in aqueous phase. TGM concentration showed positive correlations with CO and $PM_{10}$ which can transport in long-range, but there was no correlation with $NO_2$. Considering that major source of mercury is combustion process, this result showed that local sources did not significantly impact on TGM concentration in Chuncheon. Five-day backward trajectories were calculated for the samples representing high and low concentrations of TGM, and determined that industrialized area of China including Shenyang and Beijing influenced TGM concentrations in Chuncheon.

Variations on the Concentration of Dissolved Gaseous Mercury(DGM) at the Juam Reservoir, Korea (주암호의 용존가스상 수은의 농도변화 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Jong-Sung;Oh, Se-Hee;Shin, Mi-Yeon;Yi, Seung-Muk;Zoh, Kyung-Duk
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.28 no.6
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    • pp.667-676
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    • 2006
  • The reduction of $Hg^{2+}$ in the aqueous phase results in the production of dissolved gaseous mercury(DGM), and the volatilization of DGM has been identified as an important mechanism for the loss of Hg from waterbodies to the atmosphere. Although mercury emission in the world is known to be mostly from Asia, there have been few studies of measuring DGM concentrations in lakes in Asia. In this study, DGM concentrations were measured at Juam reservoir($35^{\cir}00'N,\;127^{\circ}14'E$), Korea. The results showed that the average concentrations of DGM at the upper and down stream of the lake during summer time were $95{\pm}8\;and\;130{\pm}15$ pg/L, respectively and the concentration of total mercury(TM) at the upper and down stream was $2.1{\pm}0.7,\;1.7{\pm}0.3$ ng/L respectively. Average DGM concentration during summer time($101{\pm}14pg/L$) was approximately 5.5 times higher than that during fall($18{\pm}0.1pg/L$). The DGM concentrations ai the midstream decreased from 32 to 13.7 pg/L during rain event, while the TM concentrations increased from 2.2 ng/L to 2.7 ng/L indicating the deposition of mercury from the atmosphere. Also, the diurnal patterns between DGM concentrations and UV intensities were observed. Water temperatures and DOC concentrations were significantly related to DGM concentrations, while TM concentrations were negatively related to DGM concentrations(p<0.0001). Comparing with the study of Dill et al.,(2006) the average concentrations of DGM $(109{\pm}15pg/L)\;and\;TM(2.2{\pm} 0.4ng/L)$ at Juam reservoir were approximately 3 and 2.2 times higher than those measured in other lakes(DGM: $38{\pm}16pg/L$, TM: $1.0{\pm}1.2ng/L$).

Seasonal Variations in Mercury Deposition over the Yellow Sea, July 2007 through April 2008

  • Ghim, Young Sung;Oh, Hyun Sun;Kim, Jin Young;Woo, Jung-Hun;Chang, Young-Soo
    • Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.146-155
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    • 2016
  • Spatial and temporal variations of mercury, including dry and wet deposition fluxes, were assessed over Northeast Asia, targeting the Yellow Sea, using meteorology and chemistry models. Four modeling periods, each representative of one of the four seasons, were selected. Modeling results captured general patterns and behaviors, and fell within similar ranges with respect to observations. However, temporal variations of mercury were not closely matched, possibly owing to the effects of localized emissions. Modeling results indicated that dry deposition is correlated with wind speed, while wet deposition is correlated with precipitation amount. Overall, the wet deposition flux of $66ng/m^2-day$ was about twice as large as the dry deposition flux of $32ng/m^2-day$, when averaged over the four modeling periods. Dry deposition occurred predominantly in the form of reactive gaseous mercury (RGM). In contrast, RGM accounted for only about two-thirds of wet deposition, while particulate mercury accounted for the remainder.