Probing the limits of sampling gaseous elemental mercury passively in the remote atmosphere

• Published in: Environmental Science: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Hoang, Christopher, Magand, Olivier, Brioude, Jérôme, Dimuro, Andrea, Brunet, Christophe, Ah-Peng, Claudine, Bertrand, Yann, Dommergue, Aurélien, Lei, Ying, Duan, Wania, Frank
• Other Authors: University of Toronto at Scarborough, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences Toronto, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Laboratoire de l'Atmosphère et des Cyclones (LACy), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France, Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (OVPF), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP (UMR_7154)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs en milieu tropical (UMR PVBMT), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Funding from the joint research project program of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the University of Toronto and an undergraduate student summer internship from the Centre for Global Change Science of the University of Toronto is gratefully acknowledged. This work was further supported by the project Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS; https://www.gmos.eu) of the European Union Seventh Framework Programme with funding by the European Commission - H2020, the ERA-PLANET programme (https://www.era-planet.eu) (Contract. No. 689443) within the IGOSP project and LEFE program (CNRS-INSU). Logistical and financial support for work at AMS and DMC has been provided by the GMOstral-1028 program of the Institut polaire francais Paul -'Emile Victor (IPEV). The Observatoire de Physique de l'Atmosphere a La Reunion is funded by CNRS-INSU and the Universite de La Reunion and managed by the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers a La Reunion (UMS 3365). The authors also acknowledge the Institut des Sciences de l'Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001/UR 252) for internal funding. The Tekran 2537 systems used in this study are coordinated by the IGE-PTICHA technical platform dedicated to atmospheric chemistry field instrumentation. Finally, the GMOS-FR national data portal is maintained by the French National Center for Atmospheric Data and Services (AERIS)., European Project: 689443,H2020,H2020-SC5-2015-one-stage,ERA-PLANET(2016)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Antarctic; Concordia Station; Indian; The Antarctic; Amsterdam Island; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03936028; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03936028/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03936028/file/d2ea00119e.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ea00119e

Environmental significanceWhereas extremely remote locations, such as Antarctica or isolated islands, are important for studying the troposphere, limitations regarding site access, electrical power, skilled personnel, and specialized supplies can make measurements challenging. Passive sampling approaches without the need for power, maintenance and frequent site visits are attractive, but their performance under the frequently harsh conditions encountered at such sites needs to be established. We tested the feasibility of recording long-term average concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury with a passive sampler at some of the world's most remote and extreme atmospheric research stations. The failures and successes of these tests informed the development of guidelines and procedures that increase the likelihood of obtaining reliable long-term records of atmospheric mercury with passive samplers. International audience Reliably recording very low ambient concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in remote regions is often required, for example in the context of evaluating how effective the Minamata Convention is in reducing global Hg emissions. However, sampling over extended periods of time at sites that are difficult to access can be very challenging. In order to establish what role inexpensive and easy-to-use passive air samplers may play in this regard, we deployed a sampler using a Radiello diffusive barrier and activated carbon sorbent for periods of up to three years and with sampling periods ranging from one to three months in some of the most extreme, remote and challenging global environments: at Concordia station on the Antarctic plateau, on Amsterdam Island in the remote Southern Indian Ocean and at several sites on the tropical island of La Reunion. The ability to reliably record the GEM concentrations at these sites was strongly influenced by the size of the sequestered amount of mercury relative to the extent and variability of the contamination of field blank samples. In some cases, ...