Longtime Monitoring of mercury in tree foliage in Austria from

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200206568

Abstract Volume: 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP 2019) (2019) , 175

In Austria, the impact of mercury has been assessed since 1986 on 709 sample plots of the Austrian Bio-Indicator Grid with Picea abies (639 plots), Pinus silvestris & nigra (70 plots). On each plot samples of the current shoot of two trees were analyzed. The samples were collected in the upper part of the crown each October. These annual sampling allows a precise evaluation of the temporal and regional development of the mercury impact. With the quick and easy analytical method (Altec-AMA 254) and the stored retain samples it was possible for the first time to evaluate the mercury impact before 2000. The analytical method is contamination-free and sensitive enough to determine naturally occurring mercury concentrations in tree foliage. Especially noticeable are the areas with pig-iron and steel production in the region around Linz, but also in Leoben/Donawitz. Surprisingly the impact is detectable from Linz over 120 km downstream the Danube till St. Pölten. According to the VOEST-Alpine company, 720 kg mercury were emitted by the sintering plant in Linz in the year 2000. At the moment, the processing of mercury-containing Austrian iron ore is one of the important mercury sources in Austria. But due to reducing measures a clear decrease of the mercury impact in these regions can be observed. In the south of Austria elevated mercury levels could be found in Brückl/Carinthia. Here amalgam electrodes were used in chlor alkali process of the chlorine plant until the end of the nineties. This source of mercury pollution was eliminated by a technological change.