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ANNUAL DYNAMICS OF MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE WATERS OF THE NORTHERN DVINA RIVER

Asya Ovsepyan

Abstract

The article presents the materials of research conducted in the North of European Russia since 2004. We have studied soil, water and bottom sediments of rivers and lakes, biomaterials of the river inhabitants, and ground vegetation. For more than a 10-year period were accumulated actual data on concentrations of mercury in various components of the ecosystem of the mouth area of the Northern Dvina River, especially the interesting situation with the environment around pulp and paper mills (PPM). The main factor determining the amount of mercury in the environment is the presence of a source of income it. And for this region natural sources of mercury have not been identified, but it?s interesting to note that for the selected region is characterized by the presence of a large number of pulp and paper mills, the production cycle of which included mercury (associated with obtaining chlorine used for paper bleaching). In the press there are reports that before the early 2000s, the largest company in the industry located in the mouth region of the Northern Dvina River ? leading pulp and paper mill of Russia ? Arkhangelskiy PPM was observed discharges of mercury-containing waste into the river. However, since 2004 there is evidence of a gradual transition of APPM on the use of imported chlorine and commissioning method of producing chlorine without the use of mercury. Today Arkhangelskiy PPM ? is one of Europe's leading wood-chemical enterprises, located 15 km upstream the Northern Dvina River from the city of Arkhangelsk. The history of this plant began in 1940, when it was launched-paper industry, and now this is one of the largest Russian manufacturers of paperboard, packaging, pulp and exercise-books. At the Arkhangelsk pulp and paper mill since 2004, operates an environmental management system that meets the requirements of international standard ISO 14001. However, during the production using the technological cycle of mercury, this metal and its compounds fell into different components of the environment, where processes of accumulation, transformation and movement were ongoing. Necessary to specify that for a period of 10 years of observations of mercury concentrations in aquifers of the mouth area of the Northern Dvina River tend to decrease. So, if you compare the value of mercury content in water in 2004 and 2014 - the average concentration has decreased in 4,5 times. In our view this shows a reduction in revenues of mercury-containing wastewater directly into the river. Of course, this process cannot happen quickly because for such a long time period local pollution has undergone all elements of the River ecosystem of the mouth area of the Northern Dvina. Significant stocks of mercury accumulated in bottom sediments. We identified elevated concentrations of mercury in near-bottom horizon, which tells about the influence of bottom sediments on the flow of mercury in the water.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2019/3.1/s15.084

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