Concurrently Measured Concentrations of Atmospheric Mercury in Indoor (household) and Outdoor Air of Basel, Switzerland.

ABSTRACT: Indoor air pollution can be a major health risk because urban populations spend up to 90% of their time in closed rooms. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) has not been measured as routinely as other indoor air pollutants due to the high costs and limited mobility of active Hg analyzers. However, household GEM concentrations may exceed Hg air quality guidelines as a result of potential indoor GEM sources like broken Hg thermometers. Here we deploy novel low-cost mercury passive air samplers (MerPAS) in 27 households (7 days) and at 14 outdoor locations (29-31 days) in Basel, Switzerland. Average Hg concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 10.8 ng m^-3 indoors and from 1.8 to 2.5 ng m^-3 outdoors. These results reveal that households are a net source of Hg to the urban atmosphere

SUBMITTER: Wohlgemuth L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7161680 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature