BG1.8 | Mercury (Hg) biogeochemical cycling across environmental compartments
EDI
Mercury (Hg) biogeochemical cycling across environmental compartments
Convener: Aryeh FeinbergECSECS | Co-conveners: Hélène Angot, Alkuin Maximilian Koenig, Sae Yun Kwon, Chuxian LiECSECS

Mercury (Hg) pollution, stemming from both intentional use and unintentional emissions, poses a global threat to human health and wildlife. The urgency of this issue has led 149 countries to join the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which has been in effect since 2017 and is currently undergoing its first effectiveness evaluation. Research into Hg biogeochemical cycling has revealed its ubiquity and complex transformations across various environmental compartments, including the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, soils, vegetation, biota, and the anthroposphere. Understanding the future trajectory of Hg pollution and its environmental impacts requires an in-depth knowledge of the processes occurring within and between these compartments. This session invites studies that investigate Hg cycling within individual compartments, as well as studies that explore inter-compartmental interactions and their influence on the Hg cycle. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, air-surface exchanges of Hg compounds, Hg (de)-methylation and bioaccumulation, sea ice processing, and climate/global change impacts on Hg cycling. We welcome presentations utilizing diverse methodologies, including laboratory experiments, field studies, mechanistic or statistical modelling, paleoenvironmental records, genomics, Hg stable isotopes, and emissions projections. Additionally, this session encourages contributions that aim to inform policy, including those associated with the Multi-Compartment Hg Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP).