FLUXES OF MERCURY IN THE SWEDISH ENVIRONMENT: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM WASTE INCINERATION*

The environmental fluxes of mercury are viewed and emissions of mercury compounds from combustion processes are discussed. Waste incineration is becoming one of the major sources of mercury releases to the atmosphere in many industrialized countries. A review of some recent studies of mercury distribution in flue gases in waste heat boilers shows that a large part of the mercury can be retained on fly ash from electrostatic precipitators or fabric filters. About 20-80 % of the mercury is retained, depending on the temperature over the filter, and the time of residence of the flue gases in the temperature range below 600 °C before the filter. Preliminary tempering and leaching tests indicate that most of the filter-removed mercury is suitable for deposi-tion. Key Words—Mercury, environmental damage, mercury chemistry, mercury concentrations, waste incineration, emissions, deposition, Sweden. 1