Elemental mercury: Its unique properties affect its behavior and fate in the environment

Abstract

Elemental mercury (Hg⁰) has different behavior in the environment compared to other pollutants due to its unique properties. It can remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time and so can travel long distances. Through air-surface (e.g., vegetation or ocean) exchange (dry deposition), Hg⁰ can enter terrestrial and aquatic systems where it can be converted into other Hg species. Despite being ubiquitous and playing a key role in Hg biogeochemical cycling, Hg⁰ behavior in the environment is not well understood. The objective of this review is to provide a better understanding of how the unique physicochemical properties of Hg⁰ affects its cycling and chemical transformations in different environmental compartments. The first part focuses on the fundamental chemistry of Hg⁰, addressing why Hg⁰ is liquid at room temperature and the formation of amalgam, Hg halide, and Hg chalcogenides. The following sections discuss the long-range transport of Hg⁰ as well as its redistribution in the atmosphere, aquatic and terrestrial systems, in particular, on the sorption/desorption processes that occur in each environmental compartment as well as the involvement of Hg⁰ in chemical transformation processes driven by photochemical, abiotic, and biotic reactions.

Keywords: Biogeochemical cycling; Elemental mercury; Unique properties.