Helcom : Atmospheric depositions of heavy metals

Atmospheric depositions of heavy metals on the Baltic Sea

Editor(s): Alexey Gusev, EMEP MSC-E

Key message

Total annual atmospheric depositions of heavy metals to the Baltic Sea have decreased in period from 1990 to 2006 by 45% for cadmium, 24% for mercury, and 66% for lead.

Results and Assessment

Relevance of the indicator for describing the developments in the environment

This indicator shows the levels and trends in cadmium, mercury, and lead atmospheric depositions to the Baltic Sea. The depositions of heavy metals represent the pressure of emission sources on the Baltic Sea aquatic environment.

Policy relevance and policy reference

HELCOM adopted a Recommendation in May 2001 for the cessation of hazardous substance discharges/emissions by 2020, with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the environment near to background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made synthetic substances.

Assessment

Total annual atmospheric depositions of heavy metals to the surface of the Baltic Sea have substantially decreased in period 1990-2006 (Figure 1). The most significant drop in depositions over the Baltic Sea is obtained for lead (66%). The decrease of cadmium and mercury depositions is amounted to 45% and 24%, respectively. On the level of individual sub-basins the most significant drop in cadmium and lead depositions can be noted for the Gulf of Finland (67% and 74%). Largest decrease in mercury depositions is obtained for the Belt Sea (37%). In spatial distribution of heavy metals depositions on the Baltic Sea the highest levels can be noted for the southern-western part of the Baltic Sea (the Belt Sea and the Kattegat). Among the HELCOM countries the most significant contributions to depositions over the Baltic Sea belong to Poland, Germany, and Russia.

The reduction of atmospheric input of lead, cadmium, and mercury to the Baltic Sea is a result of abatement measures as well as of economic contraction and industrial restructuring in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia in early 1990s.

Figure 1: Computed total annual atmospheric depositions of cadmium, mercury, and lead to the Baltic Sea for the period 1990-2006, (% of 1990).

Figure 2: Time-series of computed total annual atmospheric deposition of cadmium to six sub-basins of the Baltic Sea for the period 1990-2006 in tonnes/year as bars (left axis) and total deposition fluxes in g/km²/year as lines (right axis). (Note that different scales are used for total depositions in tonnes/year and the same scales for total deposition fluxes). Click image to enlarge!

Figure 3: Time-series of computed total annual atmospheric deposition of lead to six sub-basins of the Baltic Sea for the period 1990-2006 in tonnes/year as bars (left axis) and total deposition fluxes in kg/km²/year as lines (right axis). (Note that different scales are used for total depositions in tonnes/year and the same scales for total deposition fluxes). Click image to enlarge!

Figure 4: Time-series of computed total annual atmospheric deposition of mercury to six sub-basins of the Baltic Sea for the period 1990-2006 in tonnes/year as bars (left axis) and total deposition fluxes in g/km²/year as lines (right axis). (Note that different scales are used for total depositions in tonnes/year and the same scales for total deposition fluxes). Click image to enlarge!

Data

Table 1. Computed total annual depositions of cadmium to the six Baltic Sea sub-basins and to the whole Baltic Sea for period 1990-2006. Units: tonnes/year

Sub-basin	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
GUB	2.04	1.60	1.58	1.71	1.40	1.38	1.28	0.88	1.41	1.32	1.63	1.34	1.01	1.23	1.03	1.30	0.96
BAP	7.29	6.15	6.38	7.34	6.73	5.68	6.83	5.31	5.21	5.79	5.84	5.04	4.81	5.12	4.49	4.18	4.42
GUF	1.40	1.25	1.21	0.85	1.11	0.84	0.77	0.56	0.66	0.65	0.54	0.59	0.52	0.56	0.48	0.52	0.46
GUR	0.67	0.58	0.66	0.53	0.59	0.49	0.58	0.43	0.44	0.55	0.47	0.39	0.35	0.40	0.33	0.35	0.40
BES	0.81	0.73	0.78	0.77	0.77	0.60	0.65	0.61	0.66	0.58	0.66	0.48	0.55	0.56	0.56	0.53	0.46
KAT	0.81	0.74	0.82	0.71	0.71	0.61	0.53	0.61	0.56	0.61	0.73	0.53	0.54	0.55	0.56	0.55	0.45
Baltic Sea	13.0	11.1	11.4	11.9	11.3	9.6	10.6	8.4	8.9	9.5	9.9	8.4	7.8	8.4	7.4	7.4	7.1

Table 2. Computed total annual depositions of lead to the six Baltic Sea sub-basins and to the whole Baltic Sea for period 1990-2006. Units: tonnes/year

Sub-basin	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
GUB	110	87	82	71	55	56	50	31	51	46	58	45	36	44	32	42	33
BAP	377	293	277	265	232	180	193	163	181	181	191	143	148	162	140	128	137
GUF	62	54	49	36	39	31	28	21	25	24	22	21	20	23	16	16	16
GUR	31	25	25	20	20	16	17	14	14	16	16	12	12	13	10	10	13
BES	58	42	44	36	31	26	23	23	26	22	25	17	17	19	20	20	17
KAT	60	46	50	36	32	29	22	25	24	24	29	19	19	21	21	21	18
Baltic Sea	698	546	527	463	409	338	333	277	320	313	341	257	252	283	238	238	234

Table 3. Computed total annual depositions of mercury to the six Baltic Sea sub-basins and to the whole Baltic Sea for period 1990-2006. Units: tonnes/year

Sub-basin	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
GUB	0.79	0.77	0.82	0.78	0.66	0.78	0.81	0.63	0.86	0.74	0.96	0.78	0.62	0.74	0.65	0.72	0.68
BAP	2.34	2.18	2.16	2.31	2.09	2.01	2.14	1.79	1.99	1.91	1.98	1.92	1.68	1.79	1.59	1.51	1.80
GUF	0.32	0.31	0.32	0.25	0.31	0.27	0.29	0.25	0.26	0.24	0.26	0.27	0.20	0.26	0.22	0.22	0.23
GUR	0.20	0.18	0.19	0.17	0.19	0.16	0.18	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.14	0.16
BES	0.38	0.34	0.34	0.34	0.30	0.27	0.27	0.25	0.26	0.24	0.23	0.22	0.22	0.21	0.20	0.19	0.24
KAT	0.40	0.35	0.39	0.33	0.31	0.29	0.27	0.29	0.28	0.28	0.26	0.23	0.21	0.23	0.22	0.20	0.25
Baltic Sea	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.2	3.9	3.8	4.0	3.4	3.8	3.6	3.8	3.6	3.1	3.4	3.0	3.0	3.4

Metadata

Technical information:

1. Source: EMEP/MSC-E

2. Description of data: The atmospheric depositions of heavy metals were obtained using the latest version of MSCE-HM model developed at EMEP/MSC-E (Travnikov and Ilyin, 2005). The latest available official emission data for the HELCOM countries have been used in the model computations. Emissions of all three metals for each year of this period were officially reported to the UN ECE Secretariat by most of HELCOM countries. These data are available from the EMEP Centre on Emission Inventories and Projections (CEIP) (http://www.emep-emissions.at/ceip/). The Russian Federation did not submitted information for 2001 and 2006. Values of emissions from Russia for 2001 were obtained using interpolation between emissions for 2000 and 2002. For the 2006 the same level of emissions as for 2005 was assumed in model simulations. These data were used for modelling of transboundary air pollution by heavy metals within European region including the Baltic Sea and its catchment area.

3. Geographical coverage: Atmospheric depositions of lead, cadmium, and mercury were obtained for the European region.

4. Temporal coverage: Timeseries of annual atmospheric depositions are available for the period 1990 – 2006.

5. Methodology and frequency of data collection: Atmospheric input and source allocation budgets of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, and mercury) to the Baltic Sea and its catchment area were computed using the latest version of MSCE-HM model. MSCE-HM is the regional-scale model operating within the EMEP region. This is a three-dimensional Eulerian model which includes processes of emission, advection, turbulent diffusion, chemical transformations of mercury, wet and dry depositions, and inflow of pollutant into the model domain. Horizontal grid of the model is defined using stereographic projection with spatial resolution 50 km at 60º latitude. The description of EMEP horizontal grid system can be found in the internet (http://www.emep.int/grid/index.html). Vertical structure of the model consists of 15 non-uniform layers defined in the terrain-following s-coordinates and covers almost the whole troposphere. Detailed description of the model can be found in EMEP reports (Travnikov and Ilyin, 2005) and in the Internet on EMEP web page http://www.emep.int/ under the link to information on Heavy Metals. Meteorological data used in the calculations for 1990-2006 were obtained using MM5 meteorological data preprocessor on the basis of the Re-analysis project data prepared by National Centers for Environmental Predictions together with National Center of the Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) in the USA (http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/cdc/data.ncep.reanalysis2.html)) and meteorological analysis of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

Calculations of atmospheric transport and depositions of lead, cadmium, and mercury are provided on the regular basis annually two years in arrears on the basis of emission data officially submitted by Parties to CLRTAP Convention.

Quality information:

6. Strength and weakness: Strength: annually updated information on atmospheric input of lead, cadmium, and mercury to the Baltic Sea and its sub-basins. Weakness: uncertainties in officially submitted data on emissions of heavy metals.

7. Uncertainty: The MSCE-HM model has been verified in a number of intercomparison campaigns with other regional HM transport models (Sofiev et al., 1996; Gusev et al., 2000; Ryaboshapko et al., 2001,2005) and has been qualified by means of sensitivity and uncertainty studies (Travnikov, 2000). It was concluded in these publications that the results of heavy metal airborne transport modeling were in satisfactory agreement with the available measurements and the discrepancies did not exceed on average a factor of two. The comparison of calculated versus measured data indicates that the model predicts the observed air concentrations of lead and cadmium within the accuracy of 30%. For concentrations in precipitation the difference between calculated and measured values may reach two times. Computed mercury concentrations deviate from measured values within a factor of two.

The model was thoroughly reviewed at the workshop held in October, 2005 under supervision of the EMEP Task Force of Measurements and Modelling (TFMM). It was concluded that “MSC-E model is suitable for the evaluation of long-range transboundary transport and depositions of HMs in Europe” [ECE/EB.AIR/GE.1/2006/4].

8. Further work required: Further work is required on reducing uncertainties in emission data and modeling approaches used in MSCE-HM model.

References

Gusev A., Ilyin I., Petersen G., van Pul A. and Syrakov D. [2000] Long-range transport model intercomparison studies. Model intercomparison study for cadmium. EMEP/ESC-E Report 2/2000, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – East, Moscow, Russia. (http://www.msceast.org/reps/2_2000.zip)

Ilyin I., O. Rozovskaya, V. Sokovykh, O. Travnikov (2007) Atmospheric modelling of heavy metal pollution in Europe: Further development and evaluation of the MSCE-HM model. EMEP/MSC-E Technical Report 4/2007. (http://www.msceast.org/reps/4_2007.zip)

Ryaboshapko A., Ilyin I., Bullock R., Ebinghaus R., Lohman K., Munthe J., Petersen G., Segneur C., Wangberg I. [2001] Intercomparison study of numerical models for long-range atmospheric transport of mercury. Stage I: Comparison of chemical modules for mercury transformations in a cloud/fog environment. EMEP/MSC-E Technical report 2/2001, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – East, Moscow, Russia. (http://www.msceast.org/abstract/201.html)

Ryaboshapko A., Artz R., Bullock R., Christensen J., Cohen M., Draxler R., Ilyin I., Munthe J., Pacyna J., Petersen G., Syrakov D., and Travnikov O. [2005] Itercopmparison study of numerical models for long-range atmospheric transport of mercury. Stage III. Comparison of modelling results with long-term observations and comparison of calculated itens of regional balances. EMEP/MSC-E Technical Report 1/2005, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – East, Moscow, Russia. (http://www.msceast.org/reps/1_2005.zip)

Sofiev M., Maslyaev A. and Gusev A. [1996] Heavy metal model intercomparison. Methodology and results for Pb in 1990. EMEP/MSC-E Report 2/1996, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre - East, Moscow, Russia. (http://www.msceast.org/reps/2_1996.zip)

Travnikov O. [2000] Uncertainty analysis of heavy metals long-range transport modelling. EMEP/MSC-E Technical note 9/2000, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre - East, Moscow, Russia. (http://www.msceast.org/abstract/900.html)

Travnikov O. and Ilyin I. (2005) Regional Model MSCE-HM of Heavy Metal Transboundary Air Pollution in Europe. EMEP/MSC-E Technical Report 6/2005. (http://www.msceast.org/events/review/hm_description.html)

For reference purposes, please cite this indicator fact sheet as follows:

[Author’s name(s)], [Year]. [Indicator Fact Sheet title]. HELCOM Indicator Fact Sheets 2008. Online. [Date Viewed], http://www.helcom.fi/environment2/ifs/en_GB/cover/.

Last updated 28.8.2008