Improvements to the Measurement of Atmospheric Reactive Mercury, and Contributions to the Investigation of Reactive Mercury at Six Sampling Sites

• Main Author: Allen, Natalie Rose
• Other Authors: Gustin, Mae S, Dunham-Cheatham, Sarrah, Arnott, Patrick
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: atmospheric mercury; atmospheric sampling; cation exchange membrane; environmental science; mercury; UNR-RMAS; Indian; Amsterdam Island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11714/9632

Mercury (Hg) is a globally transported hazardous pollutant. In the atmosphere, reactive mercury (RM), composed of gaseous oxidized and particulate-bound Hg, comprises the minority of Hg fractions, but contributes significantly to wet and dry deposition. Unfortunately, the standard instrument used for the past twenty years has been shown to inaccurately measure atmospheric RM. Therefore, the University of Nevada, Reno – Reactive Mercury Active System (RMAS) was developed to improve measurements of RM concentrations, in addition to identification of the chemistry of RM compounds, which was previously impossible. The work presented in this thesis focused on investigating the impact of flow rates on RMAS RM collection and whether the RMAS cartridge that holds membranes collected RM. In addition, alternate surfaces for RM collection were tested. The results of this work are presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 summarizes contributions made to a multi-year field campaign aimed at collecting RM using the RMAS at: Amsterdam Island, Indian Ocean; Atlanta, GA; the Great Salt Lake, UT; Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX; and Reno, NV and the adjacent Peavine Peak. Chapter 3 was focused on understanding the chemistry and concentrations of RM at locations with different ambient air chemistry. Lastly, in Chapter 4, the thesis work was summarized, and the direction of future work discussed.