Atmospheric mercury can be considered a ‘hot topic’. The problem of global mercury pollution is a focus of several international conventions such as the UNEP mercury program and the UN-ECE Long-Range Transport of Atmospheric Pollution Convention Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air pollution (HTAP). Major scientific questions are the oxidization processes of elemental mercury, global and ...

Mercury pollution is a persistent and increasing problem in the environment. Along with some natural sources of the metal, major man-made sources of mercury pollution include incinerators, fossil fuel plants, and municipal sewage systems. The EPA estimated that in 1989, approximately 643,000 kg of mercury was discarded as municipal solid waste, with 84% of it landfilled.

The current study was aimed to investigate the mercury pollution in urban road runoff. A total of 34 rainfall events were monitored on 5 independent road catchments from 2015 to 2016 in Nanjing city, China. Events mean concentrations of mercury and the impact factors of mercury pollution in urban road runoff were also carried out in the current study. Results revealed that the concentration of ...

A chemical factory, using a production technology of acetaldehyde with mercury catalysis, was located southeast of Qingzhen City in Guizhou Province, China. Previous research showed heavy mercury pollution through an extensive downstream area. A current investigation of the mercury distribution in ambient air, soils, and plants suggests that mobile mercury species in soils created elevated merc...

This declaration summarizes the scientific and technical conclusions presented by four expert panels in their critical synthesis manuscripts and in plenary sessions at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, convened in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, on 6-11 August 2006. The 1150 registered participants in this conference constituted a diverse, multinational body of scie...

Mercury is one of the most toxic and hazardous pollutant which occurs in the environment in different chemical forms, of which methylmercury is the most dangerous. Recently it was recognised that long-term anthropogenic inputs of mercury into environment resulted in the global mercury pollution and it was concluded that action should be taken to quantify the pollution sources and reduce human-g...

Coal combustion and mercury pollution are closely linked, and this relationship is particularly relevant in China, the world's largest coal consumer. This paper begins with a summary of recent China-specific studies on mercury removal by air pollution control technologies and then provides an economic analysis of mercury abatement from these emission control technologies at coal-fired power pla...

The various methods of treatment to mercury toxicity in the human body have been studied and investigated with somewhat mixed conclusions. This paper discusses the various types of mercury, the cycle of mercury in the environment, human exposure to mercury and treatment, and methods of reducing mercury pollution and its effect in the human population in the U.S.

We quantitatively investigated the eighth century heavy metal pollution in Heijo-kyo (Ancient Nara), the first large, international city of Japan. In this metropolis, mercury, copper, and lead levels in soil were increased by urban activity and by the construction of the Great Buddha statue, Nara Daibutsu. Mercury and copper pollution associated with the construction of the statue was particula...