title: The history of mercury pollution near the Spolana chlor-alkali plant (Neratovice, Czech Republic) as recorded by Scots pine tree rings and other bioindicators.
abstract: We assessed >100years of mercury (Hg) pollution recorded in the tree rings of Scots Pine near a Czech chlor-alkali plant operating since 1941. Hg concentrations in tree rings increased with the launching of plant operations and decreased when Hg emissions decreased in 1975 due to an upgrade in production technology. Similar to traditional bioindicators of pollution such as pine needles, bark and forest floor humus, Hg concentrations in Scots Pine boles decreased with distance from the plant. Mean Hg in pine bole in the 1940s ranged from 32.5μg/kg Hg at a distance of 0.5km from the plant to 5.4μg/kg at a distance of >4.7km, where tree ring Hg was the same as at a reference site, and other bioindicators also suggest that the effect of the plant was no longer discernible. Tree ring Hg concentrations decreased by 8-29μg/kg since the 1940s at all study sites including the reference site. The lack of exact correspondence between changes at the plant and tree ring Hg indicated some smearing of the signal due to lateral translocation of Hg from sapwood to heartwood. Bole Hg concentrations reflected local and regional atmospheric Hg concentrations, and not Hg wet deposition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology of CAS, v.v.i., Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic. Electronic address: navratilt@gli.cas.cz.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Navrátil
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology of CAS, v.v.i., Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Šimeček
authors.affiliation: US Geological Survey, PO Box 628, Montpelier, VT 05601, USA.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Shanley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology of CAS, v.v.i., Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rohovec
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology of CAS, v.v.i., Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hojdová
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houška
mesh_terms: D000468:Alkalies; D002617:Chemical Industry; D018153:Czech Republic; D000074062:Environmental Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D028223:Pinus
chemical_list: D000468:Alkalies; D000074062:Environmental Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Bark; Bioindicators; Caustic soda; Dendrochemistry; Electrolysis; Hg emissions; Needles; Pinus sylvestris; Point source; Soil