title: Mercury Release to Aquatic Environments from Anthropogenic Sources in China from 2001 to 2012.
abstract: Based on an analysis of measured data and distribution factors, we developed the China Aquatic Mercury Release (CAMR) model, which we used to calculate an inventory of mercury (Hg) that was released to aquatic environments from primary anthropogenic sources in China. We estimated a total release of 98 tons of Hg in 2012, including coal-fired power plants (17%), nonferrous metal smelting (33%), coal mining and washing (25%), domestic sewage (17%), and other sectors (8.3%). The total primary anthropogenic Hg released to aquatic environments in China decreased at an annual average rate of 1.7% between 2001 and 2012, even though GDP grew at an annual average rate of 10% during this period. In addition to the Hg that was released to aquatic environments in China's provinces, we estimated the Hg release amounts and intensities (in g/km(2)·yr) for China's 58 secondary river basins. The highest aquatic Hg release intensities in China were associated with industrial wastewater on the North China Plain and domestic sewage in eastern China and southern China. We found that the overall uncertainty of our inventory ranges from -22% to 32%. We suggest that the inventory provided by this study can help establish a more accurate map of regional and global Hg cycling; it also has implications for water quality management in China.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Maodian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China , Beijing 100872, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Huanhuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Haoran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University , Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Yindong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Langbo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xuejie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D002681:China; D007221:Industry; D008628:Mercury; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D045483:Rivers
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D008628:Mercury