State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China.
College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Jan;29(3):3879-3887. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-15805-2. Epub 2021 Aug 16.
Coal-seam fire is a source of atmospheric mercury that is difficult to control. The Wuda Coalfield in Inner Mongolia, China, is one of the most severe coal fire disaster areas worldwide and has been burning for more than 50 years. To investigate atmospheric mercury pollution from the Wuda coal fire, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations and atmospheric particulate mercury (PHg) speciation were measured using a RA-915+ mercury analyzer and the temperature-programmed desorption method. Near-surface GEM concentrations in the Wuda Coalfield and adjacent urban area were 80 ng m (65-90 ng m) and 52 ng m (25-95 ng m), respectively, which are far higher than the local background value (22 ng m). PHg concentrations in the coalfield and urban area also reached significantly high levels, 33 ng m (25-45 ng m) and 22 ng m (14-29 ng m), respectively (p < 0.05). There is no clear evidence that PHg combines with organic carbon or elemental carbon, but PHg concentration appears to be controlled by air acidity. PHg mainly exists in inorganic forms, such as HgCl, HgS, HgO, and Hg(NO)·HO. This work can provide references for the speciation analysis of atmospheric PHg and the safety assessment of environmental mercury.
煤层火灾是大气汞的一个难以控制的来源。中国内蒙古的乌达煤田是世界上最严重的煤炭火灾地区之一，已经燃烧了 50 多年。为了研究来自乌达煤田煤炭火灾的大气汞污染，使用 RA-915+汞分析仪和程序升温脱附法测量了气态元素汞（GEM）浓度和大气颗粒态汞（PHg）形态。乌达煤田和相邻城区近地表 GEM 浓度分别为 80 ng m（65-90 ng m）和 52 ng m（25-95 ng m），远高于当地背景值（22 ng m）。煤田和城区的 PHg 浓度也达到了非常高的水平，分别为 33 ng m（25-45 ng m）和 22 ng m（14-29 ng m）（p < 0.05）。没有明显证据表明 PHg 与有机碳或元素碳结合，但 PHg 浓度似乎受空气酸度控制。PHg 主要以无机形式存在，如 HgCl、HgS、HgO 和 Hg(NO)·HO。这项工作可为大气 PHg 的形态分析和环境汞的安全评估提供参考。
