This research will focus on the measurement of atmospheric mercury at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution by the Mobile Mercury Laboratory, which is owned by the United States Geological Survey. Woods Hole scientists will be collaborating with USGS scientists in making measurements of elemental, particulate, and reactive gas mercury species. Ancillary aerosol samples will be collected for the entire field experiment period (a total of 212 days). The Mobile Mercury Laboratory will be onsite at Woods Hole from the beginning of 2008 until August 2008, and therefore a rapid response is required to take advantage of its presence. The ancillary data collected by the PI will be useful for further interpretation of analyses undertaken by the Mobile Lab at minimal cost.
The goal of this research is to obtain a better understanding of the chemistry of atmospheric mercury, particularly the speciation of mercury compounds, which is not well known. Mercury is of significant environmental and public health concern due to well-known toxicity of methylated forms of mercury that accumulate in the aquatic food chain and, ultimately, humans.
