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. 2011 Dec 15;45(24):10485-91.
doi: 10.1021/es202765m. Epub 2011 Nov 17.

All-time releases of mercury to the atmosphere from human activities

David G Streets  1 , Molly K Devane, Zifeng Lu, Tami C Bond, Elsie M Sunderland, Daniel J Jacob
Affiliations

All-time releases of mercury to the atmosphere from human activities

David G Streets et al. Environ Sci Technol. .

Abstract

Understanding the biogeochemical cycling of mercury is critical for explaining the presence of mercury in remote regions of the world, such as the Arctic and the Himalayas, as well as local concentrations. While we have good knowledge of present-day fluxes of mercury to the atmosphere, we have little knowledge of what emission levels were like in the past. Here we develop a trend of anthropogenic emissions of mercury to the atmosphere from 1850 to 2008-for which relatively complete data are available-and supplement that trend with an estimate of anthropogenic emissions prior to 1850. Global mercury emissions peaked in 1890 at 2600 Mg yr(-1), fell to 700-800 Mg yr(-1) in the interwar years, then rose steadily after 1950 to present-day levels of 2000 Mg yr(-1). Our estimate for total mercury emissions from human activities over all time is 350 Gg, of which 39% was emitted before 1850 and 61% after 1850. Using an eight-compartment global box-model of mercury biogeochemical cycling, we show that these emission trends successfully reproduce present-day atmospheric enrichment in mercury.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time development of Hg emission factors for Cu smelters in five world regions. Each world region is comprised of countries with similar levels of technology development, ranging from most developed (Region 1) to least developed (Region 5). The composition of these regions is provided in Table S1 of the Supporting Information.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in Hg emissions by (a) source type and (b) world region.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimates of Hg consumed in North America in the 19th century to extract Au/Ag.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trends in speciated emissions of Hg: absolute magnitude (lines) and shares of total (shading).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Modeled, time-dependent accumulation of anthropogenic Hg in global biogeochemical reservoirs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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