Looking for mercury in the Arctic (video)

Around the globe, coal-fired power stations, metal foundries and small-scale gold mining are responsible for the emission of the heavy metal mercury. In the Arctic, thousands of kilometres away from the source of the emissions, the mercury is causing a lot of damage to people, animals and the environment. UG scientist Frits Steenhuisen is conducting research into this. He is trying to unveil not only the amount of mercury emitted but also the sources of the emissions.

Not an easy task, as it requires some complicated investigative work, but Steenhuisen has been able to develop models to map the mercury emissions with relative accuracy. He is confident that, ultimately, these models could be used to limit the emission of mercury worldwide.

In this video, Steenhuisen describes his research. Steenhuisen is one of the initiators of the large-scale research expedition to Spitsbergen, which will take place in August 2020.

More information

• Mercury in the Arctic
• Global Mercury Assessment 2018
• Development and application of an updated geospatial distribution model for gridding 2015 global mercury emissions
• Identifying and characterizing major emission point sources as a basis for geospatial distribution of mercury emissions inventories