title: The impact of military activities on the concentration of mercury in soils of military training grounds and marine sediments.
abstract: Military activities have been conducted on land and at sea. Both during conflicts and in peace time, some regions served as a military training ground which included firing positions and bunkers. Mercury fulminate has been used in ammunition primers and detonators. Certain amount of ammunition was dumped into the Baltic Sea after the Second World War. Because of corroded containers, mercury can be released into the marine environment. The soil and sediment samples were taken from military training grounds, southern Baltic in 2014 and 2015. The concentration of mercury was determined by AMA-254 analyzer. Hg concentration was higher in the places of military activities, as compared to other areas. Ten times increased concentration of Hg was determined in soil sample collected in area of active gun range compared to the reference station. The significant higher concentration of mercury was detected in stations where chemical warfare agents were found.
authors: The Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk, Marszałka Piłsudskiego Alley 46, 81-378, Gdynia, Poland. karolinagebka@o2.pl.
authors: Karolina
authors: K
authors: Gębka
authors: The Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy Street 55, 81-712, Sopot, Poland.
authors: Jacek
authors: J
authors: Bełdowski
authors: The Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk, Marszałka Piłsudskiego Alley 46, 81-378, Gdynia, Poland.
authors: Magdalena
authors: M
authors: Bełdowska
mesh_terms: D003485:Cyanates; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D053834:Explosive Agents; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008889:Military Personnel; D011044:Poland; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003485:Cyanates; D053834:Explosive Agents; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C070787:mercury fulminate; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Ammunition; Gun range; Mercury; Military training ground; Sediment; Soil