Usage proposal of a common urban decorative tree (Salix alba L.) to monitor the dispersion of gaseous mercury: a case study from Turda (Romania).
Closure of chloralkali plants poses a risk of abandonment of important sources of gaseous mercury. In this work, an assessment has been made of the potential for pollution from one of these plants in the proximity of a densely populated town in central Romania.The work involved a comparison between...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Data de publicação: | 2018 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| Repositório: | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/46299 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/10578/46299 |
| Access Level: | Acceso aberto |
| Palavra-chave: | Biomonitoring Chloralkali Gaseous mercury Romania Salix alba Thermal speciation Turda |
| Resumo: | Closure of chloralkali plants poses a risk of abandonment of important sources of gaseous mercury. In this work, an assessment has been made of the potential for pollution from one of these plants in the proximity of a densely populated town in central Romania.The work involved a comparison between two major types of monitoring survey: biomonitoring using leaves of a tree common in urban environments; and LUMEX-based gaseous mercury analysis. For biomonitoring, 21 samples from Salix alba L. trees were taken in Turda area. Atmospheric monitoring included two mobile surveys and one at a fixed location.The results from both monitoring systems show similarities in gaseous mercury dispersion patterns, with high mercury contents clearly related to the presence of the chloralkali plant. Particularly high levels were measured in the following situations: (i) in a ‘smog’ area related with thermal inversion and (ii) during dusk. Direct monitoring suffered from limitations in acquiring information, especially in a medium-long time range, but biomonitoring provided these data and is capable of covering studies on temporary trends or comparative assessments between European cities with contrasting gaseous mercury sources.The thermal speciation of mercury contents indicates that the whole fraction of mercury in leaves corresponds to organic mercury. This finding implies a non-reversible uptake process, which in turn ensures the applicability of this technique to biomonitor long-term exposure.As a conclusion, the assessment of gaseous mercury pollution based on biomonitoring using S. alba has proven to be a useful, reliable and cost-effective methodology. |
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