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Zhu W, Li Z, Li P, Sommar J, Fu X, Feng X, Yu B, Zhang W, Reis AT, Pereira E. Legacy Mercury Re-emission and Subsurface Migration at Contaminated Sites Constrained by Hg Isotopes and Chemical Speciation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:5336-5346. [PMID: 38472090 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
The re-emission and subsurface migration of legacy mercury (Hg) are not well understood due to limited knowledge of the driving processes. To investigate these processes at a decommissioned chlor-alkali plant, we used mercury stable isotopes and chemical speciation analysis. The isotopic composition of volatilized Hg(0) was lighter compared to the bulk total Hg (THg) pool in salt-sludge and adjacent surface soil with mean ε202HgHg(0)-THg values of -3.29 and -2.35‰, respectively. Hg(0) exhibited dichotomous directions (E199HgHg(0)-THg = 0.17 and -0.16‰) of mass-independent fractionation (MIF) depending on the substrate from which it was emitted. We suggest that the positive MIF enrichment during Hg(0) re-emission from salt-sludge was overall controlled by the photoreduction of Hg(II) primarily ligated by Cl- and/or the evaporation of liquid Hg(0). In contrast, O-bonded Hg(II) species were more important in the adjacent surface soils. The migration of Hg from salt-sludge to subsurface soil associated with selective Hg(II) partitioning and speciation transformation resulted in deep soils depleted in heavy isotopes (δ202Hg = -2.5‰) and slightly enriched in odd isotopes (Δ199Hg = 0.1‰). When tracing sources using Hg isotopes, it is important to exercise caution, particularly when dealing with mobilized Hg, as this fraction represents only a small portion of the sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå SE-90183, Sweden
| | - Zhonggen Li
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
- School of Resources and Environment, Zunyi Normal College, Zunyi 563006, China
| | - Ping Li
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jonas Sommar
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
| | - Xuewu Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xinbin Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ben Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
| | - Ana T Reis
- EPIUnit─Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto 4050-600, Portugal
- Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Porto 4050-600, Portugal
| | - Eduarda Pereira
- LAQV-REQUIMTE─Associated Laboratory for Green Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal
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Taamalli S, Pitoňák M, Dibble TS, Černušák I, Louis F. Theoretical Study of the Monohydration of Mercury Compounds of Atmospheric Interest. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:5819-5828. [PMID: 34180661 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c02772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The structures, vibrational frequencies, and model IR spectra of the monohydrates of oxygenated mercury compounds (BrHgO, BrHgOH, BrHgOOH, BrHgNO2, BrHgONO, and HgOH) have been theoretically studied using the ωB97X-D/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. The ground state potential energy surface exhibits several stable structures of these monohydrates. The thermodynamic properties of the hydration reactions have been calculated at different levels of theory including DFT and coupled-cluster calculations DK-CCSD(T) with the ANO-RCC-Large basis sets. Standard enthalpies and Gibbs free energies of hydration were computed. The temperature dependence of ΔrG°(T) was evaluated for the most stable complexes over the temperature range 200-400 K. Thermodynamic data revealed that the highest fraction hydrated at 298 K and 100% relative humidity will be BrHgNO2-H2O at ∼5%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Taamalli
- CNRS, UMR 8522 - PC2A - PhysicoChimie des Processus de Combustion et de l'Atmosphère, Université Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Michal Pitoňák
- Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Computing Center, Centre of Operations of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 35 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Theodore S Dibble
- Department of Chemistry, State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, New York 13210, United States
| | - Ivan Černušák
- Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Florent Louis
- CNRS, UMR 8522 - PC2A - PhysicoChimie des Processus de Combustion et de l'Atmosphère, Université Lille, 59000 Lille, France
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Mao N, Antley J, Cooper M, Shah N, Kadam A, Khalizov A. Heterogeneous Chemistry of Mercuric Chloride on Inorganic Salt Surfaces. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:3943-3952. [PMID: 33914544 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c02220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) is a major chemical form responsible for deposition of atmospheric mercury, but its interaction with environmental surfaces is not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the uptake of gaseous HgCl2, used as a GOM surrogate, by several inorganic salts representative of marine and urban aerosols. The process was studied in a fast flow reactor coupled to an ion drift-chemical ionization mass spectrometer, where gaseous HgCl2 was quantitatively detected as HgCl2·NO3-. Uptake curves showed a common behavior, where upon exposure of the salt surface to HgCl2, the gas-phase concentration of the latter dropped rapidly and then recovered gradually. None of the salts produced a full recovery of HgCl2, indicating the presence of an irreversible chemical reaction in addition to reversible adsorption, and all salts showed reactive behavior consistent with the presence of surface sites of a high and a low reactivity. On the basis of the decrease in the uptake coefficient with increasing concentration of gaseous HgCl2, we conclude that the interaction follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. The reactivity of a deactivated salt surface after uptake could be partially restored by cycling through an elevated relative humidity at atmospheric pressure. The overall surface reactivity decreased in the series Na2SO4 > NaCl > (NH4)2SO4 > NH4NO3. The uptake on NH4NO3 was nearly fully reversible, with low values of the initial (0.4 × 10-2) and steady-state (3.3 × 10-4) uptake coefficients, whereas Na2SO4 was significantly more reactive (3.1 × 10-2 and 1.7 × 10-3). Depending on the aerosol loading, the lifetimes of gaseous HgCl2 on dry urban and marine particles (as pure (NH4)2SO4 and NaCl, respectively) were estimated to range from half an hour to about a day.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Mao
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - John Antley
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Matthew Cooper
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States.,Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Neil Shah
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Anuradha Kadam
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States.,New Jersey School of Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Alexei Khalizov
- Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States.,Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
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Tacey SA, Szilvási T, Schauer JJ, Mavrikakis M. Computational Chemistry-Based Evaluation of Metal Salts and Metal Oxides for Application in Mercury-Capture Technologies. Ind Eng Chem Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c00902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sean A. Tacey
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Tibor Szilvási
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - James J. Schauer
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Manos Mavrikakis
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
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Lyman SN, Cheng I, Gratz LE, Weiss-Penzias P, Zhang L. An updated review of atmospheric mercury. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 707:135575. [PMID: 31784172 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 11/14/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The atmosphere is a key component of the biogeochemical cycle of mercury, acting as a reservoir, transport mechanism, and facilitator of chemical reactions. The chemical and physical behavior of atmospheric mercury determines how, when, and where emitted mercury pollution impacts ecosystems. In this review, we provide current information about what is known and what remains uncertain regarding mercury in the atmosphere. We discuss new ambient, laboratory, and theoretical information about the chemistry of mercury in various atmospheric media. We review what is known about mercury in and on solid- and liquid-phase aerosols. We present recent findings related to wet and dry deposition and spatial and temporal trends in atmospheric mercury concentrations. We also review atmospheric measurement methods that are in wide use and those that are currently under development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth N Lyman
- Bingham Research Center, Utah State University, 320 N Aggie Blvd., Vernal, UT, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Utah State University, 4820 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, USA.
| | - Irene Cheng
- Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 4905 Dufferin St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lynne E Gratz
- Environmental Studies Program, Colorado College, 14 East Cache la Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Peter Weiss-Penzias
- Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, USA; Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Leiming Zhang
- Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 4905 Dufferin St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Tacey SA, Xu L, Szilvási T, Schauer JJ, Mavrikakis M. Quantum chemical calculations to determine partitioning coefficients for HgCl 2 on iron-oxide aerosols. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 636:580-587. [PMID: 29723830 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Gas-to-particle phase partitioning controls the pathways for oxidized mercury deposition from the atmosphere to the Earth's surface. The propensity of oxidized mercury species to transition between these two phases is described by the partitioning coefficient (Kp). Experimental measurements of Kp values for HgCl2 in the presence of atmospheric aerosols are difficult and time-consuming. Quantum chemical calculations, therefore, offer a promising opportunity to efficiently estimate partitioning coefficients for HgCl2 on relevant aerosols. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to predict Kp values for HgCl2 on relevant iron-oxide surfaces. The model is first verified using a NaCl(100) surface, showing good agreement between the calculated (2.8) and experimental (29-43) dimensionless partitioning coefficients at room temperature. Then, the methodology is applied to six atmospherically relevant terminations of α-Fe2O3(0001): OH-Fe-R, (OH)3-Fe-R, (OH)3-R, O-Fe-R, Fe-O3-R, and O3-R (where R denotes bulk ordering). The OH-Fe-R termination is predicted to be the most stable under typical atmospheric conditions, and on this surface termination, a dimensionless HgCl2Kp value of 5.2 × 103 at 295 K indicates a strong preference for the particle phase. This work demonstrates DFT as a promising approach to obtain partitioning coefficients, which can lead to improved models for the transport of mercury, as well as for other atmospheric pollutant species, through and between the anthroposphere and troposphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean A Tacey
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Lang Xu
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Tibor Szilvási
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - James J Schauer
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Manos Mavrikakis
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 1415 Engineering Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
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Lyman S, Jones C, O'Neil T, Allen T, Miller M, Gustin MS, Pierce AM, Luke W, Ren X, Kelley P. Automated Calibration of Atmospheric Oxidized Mercury Measurements. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:12921-12927. [PMID: 27934266 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The atmosphere is an important reservoir for mercury pollution, and understanding of oxidation processes is essential to elucidating the fate of atmospheric mercury. Several recent studies have shown that a low bias exists in a widely applied method for atmospheric oxidized mercury measurements. We developed an automated, permeation tube-based calibrator for elemental and oxidized mercury, and we integrated this calibrator with atmospheric mercury instrumentation (Tekran 2537/1130/1135 speciation systems) in Reno, Nevada and at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, U.S.A. While the calibrator has limitations, it was able to routinely inject stable amounts of HgCl2 and HgBr2 into atmospheric mercury measurement systems over periods of several months. In Reno, recovery of injected mercury compounds as gaseous oxidized mercury (as opposed to elemental mercury) decreased with increasing specific humidity, as has been shown in other studies, although this trend was not observed at Mauna Loa, likely due to differences in atmospheric chemistry at the two locations. Recovery of injected mercury compounds as oxidized mercury was greater in Mauna Loa than in Reno, and greater still for a cation-exchange membrane-based measurement system. These results show that routine calibration of atmospheric oxidized mercury measurements is both feasible and necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth Lyman
- Bingham Research Center, Utah State University , Vernal, Utah 84322, United States
| | - Colleen Jones
- Bingham Research Center, Utah State University , Vernal, Utah 84322, United States
| | - Trevor O'Neil
- Bingham Research Center, Utah State University , Vernal, Utah 84322, United States
| | - Tanner Allen
- Bingham Research Center, Utah State University , Vernal, Utah 84322, United States
| | - Matthieu Miller
- Macquarie University , North Ryde, New South Wales Australia
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno , Reno, Nevada 89557, United States
| | - Mae Sexauer Gustin
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno , Reno, Nevada 89557, United States
| | - Ashley M Pierce
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno , Reno, Nevada 89557, United States
| | - Winston Luke
- Air Resources Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Xinrong Ren
- Air Resources Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, University of Maryland , College park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Paul Kelley
- Air Resources Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, University of Maryland , College park, Maryland 20742, United States
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