Mercury

For more information on Mercury, please contact:

Marti Otto
Technology Assessment Branch
(703) 603-8853
otto.martha@epa.gov

Overview Policy and Guidance Chemistry and Behavior Environmental Occurrence Toxicology Detection and Site Characterization Treatment Technologies Conferences and Seminars Additional Resources

Chemistry and Behavior

Elemental mercury is a silver white, heavy liquid at ambient temperatures. Due to its high surface tension, it forms small compact spherical droplets when released. While the droplets themselves are stable, the high vapor pressure of mercury encourages its evaporation. Hence released or uncovered mercury can rapidly become an air hazard. The physical properties of elemental mercury are: molecular mass of 200.6, boiling point of 356.7° C, melting point of -38.87° C, vapor pressure of 0.3 Pa at 25° C, and solubility of 56 µg/L at 25° C.

The most prevalent valence states for mercury are Hg⁺¹ or Hg⁺². In these states it can form a variety of inorganic salts. Some of the more common mercury salts are mercuric chloride (HgCl₂), mercurous chloride (Hg₂Cl₂), mercuric nitrate (Hg(NO₃)₂), mercuric sulfide (HgS), and mercuric sulfate (HgSO₄). The solubilities of these chemical compounds varies greatly ranging from negligible (Hg₂Cl₂, HgS) to very soluble ( HgCl₂, Hg(NO₃)₂). Mercuric sulfate decomposes when placed in water.

Ionized forms of mercury are strongly adsorbed by soils and sediments and are desorbed slowly. Clay minerals adsorb mercury maximally at pH 6. Iron oxides also adsorb mercury in neutral soils. In acid soils, most mercury is adsorbed by organic matter. When organic matter is not present, mercury becomes relatively more mobile in acid soils, and evaporation to the atmosphere or leaching of mercury to groundwater occurs.

Mercury also can exist in organic forms with the most frequently encountered in nature being methylmercury (Hg(CH₃)₂). Mercury methylation is primarily a result of anaerobic microbial activity in sediments, which is typically enhanced in environments with high concentrations of organic matter.

While it is recognized that elemental mercury volatilizes easily and stays in the atmosphere for a long time, that ionic mercury deposits from the atmosphere readily and is very water soluble, and that fish and mammals easily absorb methylmercury when they ingest it via the food chain, there are significant behavioral differences among elemental mercury, ionic mercury, and organic and inorganic mercury compounds, in terms of accumulation in the aquatic food chain, atmospheric and oceanic residence times (the former greatly influencing long-range transport), and rates and forms of deposition. These differences are by no means yet fully understood.

Chapter 2 - Mercury: Forms, Fate & Effects
Mercury in Massachusetts: an Evaluation of Sources, Emissions, Impacts and Controls.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, 1996.
Contact: Mark Smith, C.Mark.Smith@state.ma.us

Distribution and Transport of Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Mercury-Contaminated Sediments in Reservoirs and Wetlands of the Sudbury River, East-Central Massachusetts
J.A. Colman, M.C. Waldron, R.F. Breault, and R.M. Lent.
U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4060, 21 pp., 1999.
Contact: John Colman, jacolman@usgs.gov

Handbook of Elemental Speciation, II: Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health
R. Cornelis, J. Caruso, H. Crews, and K. Heumann, eds.
John Wiley & Sons, New York. ISBN 0-470-85598-3, 768 pp, 2005.

Covers the speciation of elements from aluminum to zinc, including arsenic, chromium, and mercury.

Leaching, Transport, and Methylation of Mercury in and around Abandoned Mercury Mines in the Humboldt River Basin and Surrounding Areas, Nevada
John E. Gray.
U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2210-C, 2003.
Contact: John Gray, jgray@usgs.gov

Mercury Study Report to Congress Volume III: Fate and Transport of Mercury in the Environment
U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards and Office of Research and Development.
EPA 452-R-97-005, 376 pp., 1997.
Contact: Kathryn R. Mahaffey, mahaffey.kate@epa.gov

Mercury Concentrations in Air During the Phase I Remediation of Lower East Fork Poplar Creek Floodplain at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
M.O. Barnett, J.G. Owens, S.E. Lindberg, R.R. Turner.
Y/ER-281, 20 pp., 1997.

During excavation activities at a contaminated site, the mercury concentration in air was monitored continuously at a nearby off-site location to note the effects of soil disturbance and to ensure that the remediation did not adversely affect the off-site concentration of mercury in air.

Partition Coefficients for Metals in Surface Water, Soil, and Waste
Allison, Jerry D. (HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Herndon, VA); Terry L. Allison (Allison Geoscience Consultants, Inc., Flowery Branch, GA).
Report No: EPA 600-R-05-074, p , July 2005

This report presents metal partition coefficients for the surface water pathway and for the source model used in the multimedia, multi-pathway, multi-receptor exposure and risk assessment (3MRA) technology under development by U.S. EPA. Literature searches, statistical methods, geochemical speciation modeling, and expert judgment were used to provide reasonable estimates of partition coefficients for antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, molybdenum, mercury, methylated mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, tin, vanadium, and zinc.

Pre-Construction Biogeochemical Analysis of Mercury in Wetlands Bordering the Hamilton Army Airfield Wetlands Restoration Site
E.P.H. Best, H.L. Fredrickson, V.A. McFarland, et al.
ERDC/EL-TR-05-15, ADA439941, 155 pp, Sep 2005

This interim report describes site-specific information on the microbial, geochemical/geophysical, and predominant plant- and animal-related interactions that affect stabilization and mobilization of Hg and MeHg in the sediments/soils of a coastal wetlands area.

Pre-Construction Biogeochemical Analysis of Mercury in Wetlands Bordering the Hamilton Army Airfield (HAAF) Wetlands Restoration Site. Part 2
E.P.H. Best, H.L. Fredrickson, H. Hintelmann, O. Clarisse, B. Dimock, C.H. Lutz, G.R. Lotufo, R.N. Millward, A.J. Bednar, and J.S. Furey.
ERDC/EL TR-07-21, 222 pp, 2007

This interim technical report describes studies focused on (1) site-specific rates of methylation and demethylation, as well as characterizations of sedimentary microbial communities; (2) mercury dynamics in decomposing plant litter; (3) mercury dynamics in food webs; and (4) bioavailability of sediment-associated mercury of existing marsh sediments to macrobenthos. In addition, a new time-integrative method for measuring and monitoring mercury cycle-related biogeochemical parameters in marshes was developed, and the role of marsh vegetation as a vector in mercury species transport was quantified.

Sediment-Water Interactions Affecting Dissolved-Mercury Distributions in Camp Far West Reservoir, California
James S. Kuwabara, et al.
U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 03-4140, 2003.
Contact: James S. Kuwabara, kuwabara@usgs.gov

Subtask 1.8 – Mercury Release from Disturbed Anoxic Soils
Jaroslav Solc and Bethany A. Bolles, Energy & Environmental Research Center, Univ. of North Dakota.
2001-EERC-07-05, 123 pp., 2001.
Contact: Richard Read, 412-892-5721

This report was prepared to provide information on the secondary release of mercury from contaminated anoxic sediments to an aqueous environment after disturbance/change of in situ physical conditions. The report also evaluates mercury migration and partitioning under controlled conditions, with the implications of these processes for treatment of contaminated soils. The stability observed for mercury in undisturbed anoxic sediments might represent an opportunity for treating wastewater highly contaminated with mercury and other toxic metals in natural or engineered anoxic ponds (reactors).

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Last updated on Monday, April 7, 2008