Geochemical soil and attic dust survey in Idrija, Slovenia

By sampling of soil and attic dust in an area of 160 km$^2$ around the Idrija mercury mine it was established that mercury concentrations in soil exceed the critical values for soil (10 mg/kg) on 19 km$^2$. The weighted mercury mean for the studied area is 1.3 mg/kg (0.26-973 mg/kg) for soil and 9.7 mg/kg (0.58-1055 mg/kg) for attic dust. The highest ratios between Hg abundances in dust versus soil were found in the most distant localities and on higher altitudes above the sea level. Hg in soil exceeds Hg in attic dust only in localities in which the sources of the metal are tailings or rocks next to atmospheric emission