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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Global mercury emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Volume 10, No. 13, Year 2010
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Description
This paper provides an up-to-date assessment of global mercury emissions from anthropogenic and natural sources. On an annual basis, natural sources account for 5207 Mg of mercury released to the global atmosphere, including the contribution from re-emission processes, which are emissions of previously deposited mercury originating from anthropogenic and natural sources, and primary emissions from natural reservoirs. Anthropogenic sources, which include a large number of industrial point sources, are estimated to account for 2320 Mg of mercury emitted annually. The major contributions are from fossil-fuel fired power plants (810 Mg yr-1), artisanal small scale gold mining (400 Mg yr-1), non-ferrous metals manufacturing (310 Mg yr-1), cement production (236 Mg yr-1), waste disposal (187 Mg yr -1) and caustic soda production (163 Mg yr-1). Therefore, our current estimate of global mercury emissions suggests that the overall contribution from natural sources (primary emissions + re-emissions) and anthropogenic sources is nearly 7527 Mg per year, the uncertainty associated with these estimates are related to the typology of emission sources and source regions. © 2010 Author(s).
Authors & Co-Authors
Pirrone, Nicola N.
Italy, Monterotondo rm Lazio
Cnr-institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende
Cinnirella, Sergio
Italy, Monterotondo rm Lazio
Cnr-institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende
Feng, Xinbin Bin
China, Guiyang
Institute of Geochemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences
Finkelman, Robert B.
United States, Richardson
The University of Texas at Dallas
Friedli, H. R.
United States, Boulder
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Leaner, Joy J.
South Africa, Pretoria
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Mason, Robert Peter
United States, Hartford
University of Connecticut Hartford Campus
Mukherjee, A. B.
Finland, Helsinki
Helsingin Yliopisto
Stracher, Glenn B.
Georgia, Swainsboro
East Georgia State College
Streets, D. G.
United States, Lemont
Argonne National Laboratory
Telmer, Kevin
Canada, Victoria
University of Victoria
Statistics
Citations: 1,287
Authors: 11
Affiliations: 10
Identifiers
Doi:
10.5194/acp-10-5951-2010
ISSN:
16807316
e-ISSN:
16807324
Research Areas
Environmental