Multi-decadal decline of mercury in the North Atlantic atmosphere explained by changing subsurface seawater concentrations

Geophysical Research Letters

Volumn 39, Issue 21, 2012, Pages

  Soerensen, Anne L ^a,b   Jacob, Daniel J ^b   Streets, David G ^c   Witt, Melanie L I ^d   Ebinghaus, Ralf ^e   Mason, Robert P ^f   Andersson, Maria ^f,g   Sunderland, Elsie M ^a,b  

^a HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

^b HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^e INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS RESEARCH   (Germany)

^f UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

^g ESSIQ AB ^*  (Sweden)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY; DIGITAL STORAGE; OCEANOGRAPHY;

ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATION; ATMOSPHERIC MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER; ATMOSPHERIC MERCURY; HG CONCENTRATIONS; NORTH ATLANTIC; SEAWATER CONCENTRATION; SHIP CRUISE; SOUTH ATLANTIC; SUB-SURFACE OCEAN; SUBSURFACE WATERS;

MERCURY (METAL);

AIR-SEA INTERACTION; ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION; CRUISE REPORT; DECADAL VARIATION; MERCURY (ELEMENT); POLLUTANT TRANSPORT; SEAWATER; SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS;

ATLANTIC OCEAN; ATLANTIC OCEAN (NORTH); ATLANTIC OCEAN (SOUTH);

EID: 84864583087     PISSN: 00948276     EISSN: 19448007     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2012GL053736     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. Amos, H. M., et al. (2012), Gas-particle partitioning of atmospheric Hg(II) and its effect on global mercury deposition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 591-603, doi:10.5194/acp-12-591-2012.
2. Andersson, M. E., W. F. Fitzgerald, and R. P. Mason (2008), Mercury air-sea exchange on the New England shelf, Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract A53D-0318.
3. Aspmo, K., C. Temme, T. Berg, C. Ferrari, P. A. Gauchard, X. Fain, and G. Wibetoe (2006), Mercury in the atmosphere, snow and melt water ponds in the North Atlantic Ocean during Arctic summer, Environ. Sci. Technol., 40(13), 4083-4089, doi:10.1021/es052117z. (Pubitemid 44161658)
4. Bates, N. R. (2001), Interannual variability of oceanic CO2 and biogeo-chemical properties in the western North Atlantic subtropical gyre, Deep Sea Res., Part II, 48, 1507-1528, doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(00)00151-X. (Pubitemid 32434565)
5. Bates, N. R. (2007), Interannual variability of the oceanic CO 2 sink in the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean over the last 2 decades, J. Geophys. Res., 112, C09013, doi:10.1029/2006JC003759. (Pubitemid 350120732)
6. Boutier, B., J. Quintin, E. Rozuel, A. Dominique, and J. Bretaudeau-Sanjuan (2011), Retrospective study of metal contamination time trends in the French part of the Bay of Biscay, Environ. Technol., 32(15), 1807-1815, doi:10.1080/09593330.2011.557398.
7. Cain, A., S. Disch, C. Twaroski, J. Reindl, and C. R. Case (2007), Substance flow analysis of mercury intentionally used in products in the United States, J. Ind. Ecol., 11(3), 61-75, doi:10.1162/jiec.2007.1214. (Pubitemid 47344939)
8. Chlorine Institute (2009), Chlor-alkali Industry 2008 mercury use and emissions in the United States, twelfth annual report, Arlington, Va. [Available at www.epa.gov/Region5/mercury/pdfs/12thcl2report.pdf.]
9. Cole, A. S., A. Steffen, K. Aspmo Pfaffhuber, T. Berg, M. Pilote, L. Poissant, R. Tordon, and H. Hung (2012), Ten-year trends of atmospheric mercury in the high Arctic compared to Canadian sub-Arctic and mid-latitude sites, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 12, 20, 209-20, 237, doi:10.5194/acpd-12-20209- 2012.
10. Corbitt, E. S., D. J. Jacob, C. D. Holmes, D. G. Streets, and E. M. Sunderland (2011), Global source-receptor relationships for mercury deposition under present-day and 2050 emissions scenarios, Environ. Sci. Technol., 45, 10, 477-10, 484, doi:10.1021/es202496y.
11. Dalziel, J. A. (1992), Reactive mercury on the Scotian Shelf and in the adjacent northwest Atlantic Ocean, Mar. Chem., 37, 171-178, doi:10.1016/0304- 4203(92)90076-M.
12. Ebinghaus, R., S. G. Jennings, H. H. Kock, R. G. Derwent, A. J. Manning, and T. G. Spain (2011), Decreasing trends in total gaseous mercury observations in baseline air at Mace Head, Ireland from 1996 to 2009, Atmos. Environ., 45, 3475-3480, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.01.033.
13. Elbaz-Poulichet, F., L. Dezileau, R. Freydier, D. Cossa, and P. Sabatier (2011), A 3500-year record of Hg and Pb contamination in a Mediterranean sedimentary archive (The Pierre Blanche Lagoon, France), Environ. Sci. Technol., 45, 8642-8647, doi:10.1021/es2004599.
14. Euro Chlor (2005), The European Chlor-alkali Industry progress report, report, Brussels. [Available at http://eurochlor.clients.cwndesign.co.uk/upload/ documents/document161.pdf.]
15. Fine, R. A. (2010), CFCs in the ocean, in Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, edited by K. K. Turekian, pp. 155-162, Academic, San Diego, Calif.
16. Gill, G. A., and W. F. Fitzgerald (1987), Picomolar mercury measurements in seawater and other materials using stannous chloride reduction and two-stage gold amalgamation with gas phase detection, Mar. Chem., 20, 227-243, doi:10.1016/0304-4203(87)90074-0.
17. Gill, G. A., and W. F. Fitzgerald (1988), Vertical mercury distributions in the oceans, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 52(6), 1719-1728, doi:10.1016/0016- 7037(88)90240-2.
18. Gustin, M., and D. Jaffe (2010), Reducing the uncertainty in measurement and understanding of mercury in the atmosphere, Environ. Sci. Technol., 44(7), 2222-2227, doi:10.1021/es902736k.
19. Hedgecock, I. M., and N. Pirrone (2004), Chasing quicksilver: Modeling the atmospheric lifetime of Hg (g) in the marine boundary layer at various latitudes, Environ. Sci. Technol., 38(1), 69-76, doi:10.1021/es034623z. (Pubitemid 38044736)
20. Holmes, C. D., D. J. Jacob, R. P. Mason, and D. A. Jaffe (2009), Sources and deposition of reactive gaseous mercury in the marine atmosphere, Atmos. Environ., 43(14), 2278-2285, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.01.051.
21. Holmes, C. D., D. J. Jacob, E. S. Corbitt, J. Mao, X. Yang, R. Talbot, and F. Slemr (2010), Global atmospheric model for mercury including oxidation by bromine atoms, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10(24), 12, 037-12, 057, doi:10.5194/acp-10-12037-2010.
22. Kuss, J., C. Zulicke, C. Pohl, and B. Schneider (2011), Atlantic mercury emission determined from continuous analysis of the elemental mercury sea-air concentration difference within transects between 50°N and 50° S, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 25, GB3021, doi:10.1029/2010GB003998.
23. Lamborg, C. H., K. R. Rolfhus, W. F. Fitzgerald, and G. Kim (1999), The atmospheric cycling and air-sea exchange of mercury species in the South and equatorial Atlantic Ocean, Deep Sea Res., Part II, 46(5), 957-977, doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(99)00011-9. (Pubitemid 29250408)
24. Laurier, F., and R. Mason (2007), Mercury concentration and speciation in the coastal and open ocean boundary layer, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D06302, doi:10.1029/2006JD007320. (Pubitemid 46824908)
25. Laurier, F. J. G., R. P. Mason, G. A. Gill, and L. Whalin (2004), Mercury distributions in the North Pacific Ocean-20 years of observations, Mar. Chem., 90(1-4), 3-19, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2004.02.025. (Pubitemid 39444283)
26. Lee, J.-M., E. A. Boyle, Y. Echegoyen-Sanz, J. N. Fitzsimmons, R. Zhang, and R. A. Kayser (2011), Analysis of trace metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, and Fe) in seawater using single batch nitrilotriacetate resin extraction and isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Anal. Chim. Acta, 686, 93-101, doi:10.1016/j.aca.2010.11.052.
27. Lelieveld, J., J. van Aardenne, H. Fischer, M. de Reus, J. Williams, and P. Winkler (2004), Increasing ozone over the Atlantic Ocean (2004), Science, 304, 1483-1487, doi:10.1126/science.1096777. (Pubitemid 38720924)
28. Mahaffey, K. R., et al. (2011), Balancing the benefits of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risks of methylmercury exposure from fish consumption, Nutr. Rev., 69(9), 493-508, doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00415.x.
29. Mason, R. P., K. R. Rolfhus, and W. F. Fitzgerald (1998), Mercury in the North Atlantic, Mar. Chem., 61(1-2), 37-53, doi:10.1016/S0304-4203(98)00006-1. (Pubitemid 28259841)
30. Mason, R. P., N. M. Lawson, and G. R. Sheu (2001), Mercury in the Atlantic Ocean: factors controlling air-sea exchange of mercury and its distribution in the upper waters, Deep Sea Res., Part II, 48(13), 2829-2853, doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(01)00020-0. (Pubitemid 32596004)
31. Mason, R. P., M. E. Andersson, A. L. Soerensen, and E. M. Sunderland (2009), Measurements and modeling of the air-sea exchange of mercury, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract A51G-0197.
32. Mason, R. P., A. L. Choi, W. F. Fitzgerald, C. R. Hammerschmidt, C. H. Lamborg, A. L. Soerensen, and E. M. Sunderland (2012), Mercury bio-geochemical cycling in the ocean and policy implication, Environ. Res., doi:10.1016/j. envres.2012.03.013, in press.
33. Mergler, D., H. A. Anderson, L. H. M. Chan, K. R. Mahaffey, M. Murray, M. Sakamoto, and A. H. Stern (2007), Methylmercury exposure and health effects in humans: A worldwide concern, Ambio, 36(1), 3-11, doi:10.1579/0044-7447(2007) 36[3:MEAHEI]2.0.CO;2. (Pubitemid 46587110)
34. NOAA (1994), Gulf of Maine Point Source Inventory: A Summary by Watershed for 1991, 164 pp., Strategic Environ. Assess. Div., NOAA, Silver Spring, Md.
35. Parrella, J. P., et al. (2012), Tropospheric bromine chemistry: Implications for present and pre-industrial ozone and mercury, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 6723-6740, doi:10.5194/acp-12-6723-2012.
36. Parrish, D. D., D. B. Miller, and A. H. Goldstein (2009), Increasing ozone in marine boundary layer inflow at the west coast of North America and Europe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 1303-1323, doi:10.5194/acp-9-1303-2009.
37. Slemr, F., E.-G. Brunke, R. Ebinghaus, and J. Kuss (2011), Worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury since 1995, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4779-4787, doi:10.5194/acp-11-4779-2011.
38. Soerensen, A. L., E. M. Sunderland, C. D. Holmes, D. J. Jacob, R. M. Yantosca, H. Skov, J. H. Christensen, S. H. Strode, and R. P. Mason (2010a), An improved global model for air-sea exchange of mercury: High concentrations over the North Atlantic, Environ. Sci. Technol., 44, 8574-8580, doi:10.1021/ es102032g.
39. Soerensen, A. L., H. Skov, D. J. Jacob, B. T. Soerensen, and M. S. Johnson (2010b), Global concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury and reactive gaseous mercury in the marine boundary layer, Environ. Sci. Technol., 44, 7425-7430, doi:10.1021/es903839n.
40. Sommar, J., M. E. Andersson, and H. W. Jacobi (2010), Circumpolar measurements of speciated mercury, ozone and carbon monoxide in the boundary layer of the Arctic Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10(11), 5031-5045, doi:10.5194/acp-10-5031-2010.
41. Steinberg, N., D. J. Suszkowski, L. Clark, and J. Way (2004), Health of the Harbor: The first comprehensive look at the state of the NY/NJ harbor estuary, report to the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program, 82 pp., Hudson River Found., New York.
42. Streets, D. G., M. K. Devane, Z. Lu, T. C. Bond, E. M. Sunderland, and D. J. Jacob (2011), All-time releases of mercury to the atmosphere from human activities, Environ. Sci. Technol., 45(24), 10, 485-10, 491, doi:10.1021/es202765m.
43. Sunderland, E. M., and R. P. Mason (2007), Human impacts on open ocean mercury concentrations, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 21, GB4022, doi:10.1029/2006GB002876. (Pubitemid 351386644)
44. Sunderland, E. M., J. Dalziel, A. Heyes, B. A. Branfireun, D. P. Krabbenhoft, and F. A. P. C. Gobas (2010), Response of a macrotidal estuary to changes in anthropogenic mercury loading between 1850 and 2000, Environ. Sci. Technol., 44, 1698-1704, doi:10.1021/es9032524.
45. Sunderland, E. M., A. Amirbahman, N. M. Burges, J. Dalziel, G. Harding, S. H. Jones, E. Kamai, M. R. Karagas, X. Shi, and C. Y. Chen (2012), Mercury sources and fate in the Gulf of Maine, Environ. Res., doi:10.1016/j.envres.2012. 03.011, in press.
46. Temme, C., F. Slemr, R. Ebinghaus, and J. W. Einax (2003), Distribution of mercury over the Atlantic Ocean in 1996 and 1999-2001, Atmos. Environ., 37(14), 1889-1897, doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(03)00069-4. (Pubitemid 36379145)
47. Temme, C., P. Blanchard, A. Steffen, C. Banic, S. Beauchamp, L. Poissant, R. Tordon, and B. Wiens (2007), Trend, seasonal and multivariate analysis study of total gaseous mercury data from the Canadian atmospheric mercury measurement network (CAMNet), Atmos. Environ., 41(26), 5423-5441, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv. 2007.02.021. (Pubitemid 47049804)
48. Toerseth, K., W. Aas, K. Breivik, A. M. Fjaeraa, M. Fiebig, A. G. Hjellbrekke, C. Lund Myhre, S. Solberg, and K. E. Yttri (2012), Introduction to the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and observed atmospheric composition change during 1972-2009, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 12, 1733-1820, doi:10.5194/acpd-12-1733-2012.
49. Wilson, S., J. Munthe, K. Sundseth, K. Kindbom, P. Maxson, J. Pacyna, and F. Steenhuisen (2010), Updating historical global inventories of anthropogenic mercury emissions to air, AMAP Tech. Rep. 3, 14 pp., Arct. Monit. and Assess. Programme, Oslo.
50. Wu, D. (2011), NPDES compliance summary report, fiscal year 2009, Rep. ENQUAD 2011-04, 135 pp., Environ. Quality Dep., Mass. Water Resour. Auth., Boston.
51. Wu, J., and E. A. Boyle (1997), Lead in the western North Atlantic Ocean: Completed response to leaded gasoline phaseout, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 61(15), 3279-3283, doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(97)89711-6. (Pubitemid 127409825)
52. Zhang, Y., et al. (2012), Nested-grid simulation of mercury over North America, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 12, 2603-2646, doi:10.5194/acpd-12-2603- 2012.