title: Sources and remediation techniques for mercury contaminated soil.
abstract: Mercury (Hg) in soils has increased by a factor of 3 to 10 in recent times mainly due to combustion of fossil fuels combined with long-range atmospheric transport processes. Other sources as chlor-alkali plants, gold mining and cement production can also be significant, at least locally. This paper summarizes the natural and anthropogenic sources that have contributed to the increase of Hg concentration in soil and reviews major remediation techniques and their applications to control soil Hg contamination. The focus is on soil washing, stabilisation/solidification, thermal treatment and biological techniques; but also the factors that influence Hg mobilisation in soil and therefore are crucial for evaluating and optimizing remediation techniques are discussed. Further research on bioremediation is encouraged and future study should focus on the implementation of different remediation techniques under field conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Limnology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala 75236, Sweden; Waste Science and Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå 97187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jingying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Limnology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala 75236, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andrea Garcia
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.affiliation: Waste Science and Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå 97187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lagerkvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Limnology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala 75236, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bertilsson
authors.affiliation: Waste Science and Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå 97187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sjöblom
authors.affiliation: Waste Science and Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå 97187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jurate
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumpiene
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Mercury contaminated soil; Mobility; Remediation; Soil washing; Stabilisation/solidification