MSC-E completed assessment of atmospheric loads of Pb, Cd and Hg to the marine regions of the North-East Atlantic under support of the OSPAR Commission. Long-term deposition trends for the period from 1990 to 2019 were calculated for each OSPAR maritime region and source-receptor relationships were estimated for 1995, 2005 and 2015. The modelling results were evaluated against observed data from the OSPAR Comprehensive Atmospheric Monitoring Programme (CAMP). It was shown that current estimates of long-term trends were comparable with the results of the previous studies. The results of this work were summarized in the Technical Report [Ilyin et al., 2022].

Mercury pollution: A case study for Norway

A detailed study of Hg pollution on a country scale was performed for Norway as a part of the Norwegian Mercury Assessment 2022 (NMA 2022). The study was carried out in close collaboration with national experts and involving detailed national data on observations and emissions. Elevated Hg deposition levels were found in the southern part of the country and along the coast including the most northern areas, whereas low levels occur in the inland territories of the country. Mercury deposition to the country underwent relatively small reduction over past 30 years because of significant contribution of global emissions, which have been slowly changing. The study could useful for the effectiveness evaluation of national and international pollution reduction measures. 

Spatial distribution of simulated Hg deposition over the territory of Norway (left) and measured Hg concentration in moss (right) in 2015.