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Reactive gaseous mercury is generated from chloralkali factories resulting in extreme concentrations of mercury in hair of workers.

ABSTRACT: Occupational exposure of chloralkali workers to highly concentrated mercury (Hg) vapour has been linked to an increased risk of renal dysfunction and behavioural changes. It is generally believed that these workers are exposed to elemental Hg, which is used in abundance during the production process however, the lack in analytical techniques that would allow for identification of gaseous Hg species poses a challenge, which needs to be addressed in order to reach a consensus. Here, we present the results from simulated exposure studies, which provide sound evidence of higher adsorption rate of HgCl₂ than Hg⁰ and its irreversible bonding on the surface of hair. We found that chloralkali workers were exposed to HgCl₂, which accumulated in extremely high concentrations on the hair surface, more than 1,000 times higher than expected from unexposed subjects and was positively correlated with Hg levels in the finger- and toenails.

SUBMITTER: Elgazali AAS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5829213 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Reactive gaseous mercury is generated from chloralkali factories resulting in extreme concentrations of mercury in hair of workers.

Elgazali Abdelkarem A S AAS Gajdosechova Zuzana Z Abbas Zaigham Z Lombi Enzo E Scheckel Kirk G KG Donner Erica E Fiedler Heidelore H Feldmann Jörg J Krupp Eva M EM

Scientific reports 20180227 1

Occupational exposure of chloralkali workers to highly concentrated mercury (Hg) vapour has been linked to an increased risk of renal dysfunction and behavioural changes. It is generally believed that these workers are exposed to elemental Hg, which is used in abundance during the production process however, the lack in analytical techniques that would allow for identification of gaseous Hg species poses a challenge, which needs to be addressed in order to reach a consensus. Here, we present the ...[more]

PMID: 29487292

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Project description:Understanding atmospheric mercury chemistry is the key for explaining the biogeochemical cycle of mercury and for improving the predictive capability of computational models. Increased efforts are being made to ensure comparable Hg speciation measurements in the air through establishing metrological traceability. While traceability for elemental mercury has been recently set, this is by no means the case for gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM). Since a calibration unit suitable for traceable GOM calibrations based on evaporation of HgCl2 solution was recently developed, the purpose of our work was to extensively evaluate its performance. A highly specific and sensitive 197Hg radiotracer was used for validation over a wide range of concentrations. By comparing experimental and calculated values, we obtained recoveries for the calibration unit. The average recoveries ranged from 88.5% for 1178 ng m-3 HgCl2 gas concentration to 39.4% for 5.90 ng m-3 HgCl2 gas concentration. The losses were due to the adsorption of oxidized Hg on the inner walls of the calibrator and tubing. An adsorption isotherm was applied to estimate adsorption enthalpy (ΔHads); a ΔHads value of -12.33 kJ mol-1 was obtained, suggesting exothermal adsorption. The results of the calibrator performance evaluation suggest that a newly developed calibration unit is only suitable for concentrations of HgCl2 higher than 1 µg m-3. The concentration dependence of recoveries prevents the system from being used for calibration of instruments for ambient GOM measurements. Moreover, the previously assessed uncertainty of this unit at µg m-3 level (2.0%, k = 2) was re-evaluated by including uncertainty related to recovery and was found to be 4.1%, k = 2. Calibrator performance was also evaluated for HgBr2 gas calibration; the recoveries were much lower for HgBr2 gas than for HgCl2 gas even at a high HgBr2 gas concentration (>1 µg m-3). As HgBr2 is often used as a proxy for various atmospheric HgBr species, the suitability of the unit for such calibration must be further developed.

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Reactive gaseous mercury is generated from chloralkali factories resulting in extreme concentrations of mercury in hair of workers.

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Reactive gaseous mercury is generated from chloralkali factories resulting in extreme concentrations of mercury in hair of workers.

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