Seasonal Variation of Volatile and Nonvolatile Mercury in Soil

Abstract

Mercury concentration in soil was monitored in downtown Tokyo through April 1985 to February 1986 on the basis of once a month sampling. An analytical method was developed to determine separately volatile and nonvolatile mercury in soil by a heating process in a furnace at 100 °C for 120 min. Although the nonvolatile mercury concentration was found to be stable through the year, the volatile mercury concentration was greatly decreased in summer. Thtries nd seems to be consistent with the fact that mercury concentration in the atmosphere is high in summer and low in winter in other reports.