AUTHOR=Gustin Mae Sexauer , Dunham-Cheatham Sarrah M. , Choma Nicole , Shoemaker Kevin T. , Allen Natalie TITLE=Determining sources of reactive mercury compounds in Reno, Nevada, United States JOURNAL=Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry VOLUME=4 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-chemistry/articles/10.3389/fenvc.2023.1202957 DOI=10.3389/fenvc.2023.1202957 ISSN=2673-4486 ABSTRACT=

There is much uncertainty regarding the sources of reactive mercury (RM) compounds and atmospheric chemistry driving their formation. This work focused on assessing the chemistry and potential sources of reactive mercury measured in Reno, Nevada, United States, using 1 year of data collected using Reactive Mercury Active System. In addition, ancillary meteorology and criteria air pollutant data, Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) analyses, and a generalized linear model were applied to better understand reactive mercury observations. During the year of sampling, a fire event impacted the sampling site, and gaseous elemental Hg and particulate-bound mercury concentrations increased, as did HgII-S compounds. Data collected on a peak above Reno showed that reactive mercury concentrations were higher at higher elevation, and compounds found in Reno were the same as those measured on the peak. HYSPLIT results demonstrated RM compounds were generated inside and outside of the basin housing Reno. Compounds were sourced from San Francisco, Sacramento, and Reno in the fall and winter, and from long-range transport and the marine boundary layer during the spring and summer. The generalized linear model produced correlations that could be explained; however, when applying the model to similar data collected at two other locations, the Reno model did not predict the observations, suggesting that sampling location chemistry and concentration cannot be generalized.