Mercury Contaminated Sites

Mercury Contaminated Sites - Sergiej Vasiliev

Mercury Contaminated Sites: Characterization, Risk Assessment and Remediation is a comprehensive scientific volume that provides an up-to-date overview of the global problem of mercury contamination in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Edited by Ralf Ebinghaus along with Ralph R. Turner, Luiz D. de Lacerda, O. Vasiliev and Wim Salomons, the book brings together contributions from international experts to explore how mercury enters, persists and moves through the environment, and how contaminated sites can be assessed and managed. The text explains that mercury — unlike many other heavy metals — is volatile and can travel long distances through the atmosphere, making contamination both a local and a global environmental concern. It examines major sources of mercury pollution, including historical and contemporary industrial activities such as mining of gold, silver and mercury itself, and how these have left lasting “industrial legacies” of mercury in soils, sediments and water systems. The book places strong emphasis on scientific methods for site characterization, detailing how contaminated environments are identified and measured; on risk assessment, which evaluates potential impacts on human health and ecological systems; and on remediation technologies, which aim to reduce or eliminate contamination and mitigate risks. In addition to thematic reviews, the volume includes international case studies that illustrate real-world examples of contaminated sites from Europe, Russia and the Americas, offering insights into both regional differences and shared challenges in dealing with mercury pollution. This work serves as a valuable reference for environmental scientists, engineers, policymakers and practitioners engaged in contamination assessment and cleanup efforts around the world.