Waste disposal sites as sources of mercury in the atmosphere in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea)

Elemental mercury re-emission into the air from an old burial ground in Gdańsk Letnica and from a modern landfill in Gdańsk Szadółki resulted in noticeably increased TGM concentrations from the urban background level of 1.9 ng m−3 to a maximum value of 164.4 ng m−3. Hgtot concentrations in the soil of the burial ground ranged from 37.3 to 4817.3 ng g−1 and in the surrounding water: from 22.0 to 55.0 ng dm−3. The highest Hgtot concentrations in the modern landfill (Gdańsk Szadółki) were reported for the unsorted waste: 36.1–972.8 ng g−1. Laboratory experiments on the re-emission of Hg(0) into the air showed that emission from soil was stimulated by solar radiation and from the water — additionally by turbulent mixing.