Applicability of monitoring data of mercury soil–atmosphere transport in an old mining area for exposure risk assessment

• DOI: 10.1144/geochem2024-012
• Publication Date: 2024-11-19T16:39:02Z
• Authors: Monami Kondo; Jiajie Wang; Takeshi Komai; Noriaki Watanabe
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Mercury (Hg) is a widespread pollutant that poses significant risks to both ecosystems and human health. While previous studies have evaluated Hg concentrations in soils, few measured emissions areas with high or related these measurements estimates of exposure via air inhalation based on flux values. This study addresses this gap by proposing the use gaseous elemental (GEM) for risk assessments, particular focus importance exposure, which has implications future management strategies. Sensitivity analysis site-specific estimation model revealed fraction land area surface water significantly impacted estimated through inhalation. Additionally, showed GEM situ high-Hg concentration Itomuka was not directly proportional concentration, although treated it as function concentration. Furthermore, we found values are influenced indicating new flux-based indicator should be integrated into assessments.