Mercury in Smoke from Biomass Fires

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Read Full Article Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 28, NO. 17, PAGES 3223–3226, 2001 Mercury in Smoke from Biomass Fires Hans R. Friedli National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO Lawrence F. Radke National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO Julia Y. Lu Meteorological Service of Canada, Downsview, Ontario, Canada Abstract Litter and green vegetation were collected in 7 locations in the contiguous United States, analyzed for mercury, and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Science laboratory in Missoula, MT. Among fuels, leaf and 3needle litter contained the highest concentration (up to 71ng/g on dry weight) of mercury. The combustion of litter and green vegetation resulted in essentially complete release of mercury stored in the fuel. Mercury is emitted primarily as elemental mercury, >95% for most burns, with particulate mercury (TPM) accounting for the remainder. From the laboratory experiments we project that mercury emitted from temperate/boreal forest fires and from all biomass burning is an important source components for the atmospheric mercury budget. Received 29 November 2000; accepted 26 May 2001. Read Full Article Cited by Citation: Friedli, H. R., L. F. Radke, and J. Y. Lu (2001), Mercury in Smoke from Biomass Fires, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28(17), 3223–3226. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.