RESEARCH ARTICLE · Environmental Science & Technology · 2022

Stable Isotopes Reveal Photoreduction of Particle-Bound Mercury Driven by Water-Soluble Organic Carbon during Severe Haze

Ke Zhang, Wang Zheng, Ruoyu Sun, Sheng He, Wangcai Shuai, Xiongfei Fan, Shengliu Yuan, Pingqing Fu, Junjun Deng, Xiaodong Li, Shuxiao Wang, Jiubin Chen

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Abstract

Haze with high loading of particles may result in significant enrichment of particle-bound Hg (PBM), potentially impacting the atmospheric Hg transformation and transport. However, the dynamics of Hg transformation and the relative environmental effect during severe haze episodes remain unclear. Here, we report Hg isotopic compositions of atmospheric particles (PM 2.5, PM 10, and TSP) collected during a severe haze episode in Tianjin, China, to investigate the transformation and fate of Hg during haze events. All severe haze samples display significantly higher Δ 199 Hg (up to 1.50‰) than global urban PBM, which cannot be explained by primary anthropogenic emissions. The high Δ 199 Hg is likely caused by photoreduction of PBM promoted by water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) during the particle accumulation period, as demonstrated by the positive correlations of Δ 199 Hg with WSOC and relative humidity and confirmed by our laboratory-controlled photoreduction experiment. The results show that, on average, 21% of PBM are likely photoreduced and re-emitted back to the atmosphere as Hg(0), potentially requiring revision of atmospheric Hg budgeting and modeling. This study highlights the release of large portions of PBM back to the gas phase through photoreduction, which needs to be taken into account while evaluating the atmospheric Hg cycle and the relative ecological effects.

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