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Mercury in the Mediterranean, part I: spatial and temporal trends

  • Heavy Metals in the Environment : Sources, Interactions and Human Health
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Abstract

The present paper provides an overview of mercury studies performed in the Mediterranean Sea region in the framework of several research projects funded by the European Commission and on-going national programmes carried out during the last 15 years. These studies investigated the temporal and spatial distribution of mercury species in air, in the water column and sediments, and the transport mechanisms connecting them. It was found that atmospheric concentrations of Hg compounds, particularly oxidised Hg species observed at five coastal sites in the Mediterranean Sea Basin, are significantly higher compared with those recorded at five coastal sites distributed across N Europe, most probably due to natural emissions. Hg levels in water are comparable to other oceans. Anthropogenic and natural point sources show locally limited enrichments, while natural diffusive sources influence Hg speciation over larger areas. Results and statistic comparison of mercury species concentrations within Mediterranean compartments will be presented and discussed.

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Acknowledegments

This work was done within the framework of different EU founded projects (MAMCS/MOE, MERCYMS and on-going GMOS project) and National Italian (i.e. MedOceanor) and Slovenian founded research programmes and projects (P1-0143). The authors would like to thank the captains and crew of the R/V Urania for their help during the cruises.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Jože Kotnik, Nives Ogrinc & Milena Horvat

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), Rende, Italy

    Francesca Sprovieri & Nicola Pirrone

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  1. Jože Kotnik
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  2. Francesca Sprovieri
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  3. Nives Ogrinc
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  4. Milena Horvat
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  5. Nicola Pirrone
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Correspondence to Jože Kotnik.

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Responsible editor: Vera Slaveykova

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Kotnik, J., Sprovieri, F., Ogrinc, N. et al. Mercury in the Mediterranean, part I: spatial and temporal trends. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 4063–4080 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2378-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2378-2

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