title: Global Sources and Pathways of Mercury in the Context of Human Health.
abstract: This paper reviews information from the existing literature and the EU GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System) project to assess the current scientific knowledge on global mercury releases into the atmosphere, on global atmospheric transport and deposition, and on the linkage between environmental contamination and potential impacts on human health. The review concludes that assessment of global sources and pathways of mercury in the context of human health is important for being able to monitor the effects from implementation of the Minamata Convention targets, although new research is needed on the improvement of emission inventory data, the chemical and physical behaviour of mercury in the atmosphere, the improvement of monitoring network data, predictions of future emissions and speciation, and on the subsequent effects on the environment, human health, as well as the economic costs and benefits of reducing these aspects.
authors.affiliation: NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Department of Environmental Impacts and Economics, Instituttveien 18, P.O. Box 100, Kjeller NO-2027, Norway. kys@nilu.no.
authors.forename: Kyrre
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sundseth
authors.affiliation: NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Department of Environmental Impacts and Economics, Instituttveien 18, P.O. Box 100, Kjeller NO-2027, Norway. jp@nilu.no.|AGH-University of Science and Technology, Department of Energy and Fuels, Krakow30-059, Poland. jp@nilu.no.
authors.forename: Jozef M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pacyna
authors.affiliation: NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Department of Environmental Impacts and Economics, Instituttveien 18, P.O. Box 100, Kjeller NO-2027, Norway. ep@nilu.no.
authors.forename: Elisabeth G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Pacyna
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Area della Ricerca Roma 1, Via Salaria Km 29 300, Monterotondo (Rome) 00015, Italy. pirrone@iia.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pirrone
authors.affiliation: NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Department of Environmental Impacts and Economics, Instituttveien 18, P.O. Box 100, Kjeller NO-2027, Norway. rjt@nilu.no.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thorne
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D011634:Public Health
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
keywords: emission scenarios; global sources; human health; mercury; pathways; policy-making