Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)

Mercury has a strong environmental impact since both its organic and inorganic forms are toxic, and it represents a pollutant of global concern. Liquid Hg is highly volatile and can be released during natural and anthropogenic processes in the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In this study, th...

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Autores principales: Vaselli, Orlando, Nisi, Barbara, Rappuoli, Daniele, Cabassi, Jacopo, Tassi, Franco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28420130
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040425
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author Vaselli, Orlando
Nisi, Barbara
Rappuoli, Daniele
Cabassi, Jacopo
Tassi, Franco
author_facet Vaselli, Orlando
Nisi, Barbara
Rappuoli, Daniele
Cabassi, Jacopo
Tassi, Franco
author_sort Vaselli, Orlando
collection PubMed
description Mercury has a strong environmental impact since both its organic and inorganic forms are toxic, and it represents a pollutant of global concern. Liquid Hg is highly volatile and can be released during natural and anthropogenic processes in the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In this study, the distribution of Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) and the total and leached mercury concentrations on paint, plaster, roof tiles, concrete, metals, dust and wood structures were determined in the main buildings and structures of the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, Central Italy). The mining complex (divided into seven units) covers a surface of about 65 ha and contains mining structures and managers’ and workers’ buildings. Nine surveys of GEM measurements were carried out from July 2011 to August 2015 for the buildings and structures located in Units 2, 3 and 6, the latter being the area where liquid mercury was produced. Measurements were also performed in February, April, July, September and December 2016 in the edifices and mining structures of Unit 6. GEM concentrations showed a strong variability in time and space mostly depending on ambient temperature and the operational activities that were carried out in each building. The Unit 2 surveys carried out in the hotter period (from June to September) showed GEM concentrations up to 27,500 ng·m(−3), while in Unit 6, they were on average much higher, and occasionally, they saturated the GEM measurement device (>50,000 ng·m(−3)). Concentrations of total (in mg·kg(−1)) and leached (in μg·L(−1)) mercury measured in different building materials (up to 46,580 mg·kg(−1) and 4470 mg·L(−1), respectively) were highly variable, being related to the edifice or mining structure from which they were collected. The results obtained in this study are of relevant interest for operational cleanings to be carried out during reclamation activities.
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spelling pubmed-54096262017-05-03 Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy) Vaselli, Orlando Nisi, Barbara Rappuoli, Daniele Cabassi, Jacopo Tassi, Franco Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Mercury has a strong environmental impact since both its organic and inorganic forms are toxic, and it represents a pollutant of global concern. Liquid Hg is highly volatile and can be released during natural and anthropogenic processes in the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In this study, the distribution of Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) and the total and leached mercury concentrations on paint, plaster, roof tiles, concrete, metals, dust and wood structures were determined in the main buildings and structures of the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, Central Italy). The mining complex (divided into seven units) covers a surface of about 65 ha and contains mining structures and managers’ and workers’ buildings. Nine surveys of GEM measurements were carried out from July 2011 to August 2015 for the buildings and structures located in Units 2, 3 and 6, the latter being the area where liquid mercury was produced. Measurements were also performed in February, April, July, September and December 2016 in the edifices and mining structures of Unit 6. GEM concentrations showed a strong variability in time and space mostly depending on ambient temperature and the operational activities that were carried out in each building. The Unit 2 surveys carried out in the hotter period (from June to September) showed GEM concentrations up to 27,500 ng·m(−3), while in Unit 6, they were on average much higher, and occasionally, they saturated the GEM measurement device (>50,000 ng·m(−3)). Concentrations of total (in mg·kg(−1)) and leached (in μg·L(−1)) mercury measured in different building materials (up to 46,580 mg·kg(−1) and 4470 mg·L(−1), respectively) were highly variable, being related to the edifice or mining structure from which they were collected. The results obtained in this study are of relevant interest for operational cleanings to be carried out during reclamation activities. MDPI 2017-04-15 2017-04 /pmc/articles/PMC5409626/ /pubmed/28420130 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040425 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Vaselli, Orlando
Nisi, Barbara
Rappuoli, Daniele
Cabassi, Jacopo
Tassi, Franco
Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title_full Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title_fullStr Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title_full_unstemmed Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title_short Gaseous Elemental Mercury and Total and Leached Mercury in Building Materials from the Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy)
title_sort gaseous elemental mercury and total and leached mercury in building materials from the former hg-mining area of abbadia san salvatore (central italy)
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28420130
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040425
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