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Assessment of Mercury Releases from the Russian Federation

Executive Summary

The present assessment has been prepared as part of the ACAP (Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic) study "Reduction of atmospheric mercury releases from Arctic states". The assessment of anthropogenic mercury releases from Russian sources has been prepared by combining official Russian environmental statistics with expert estimates obtained on the basis of an assessment of mercury used intentionally or mobilised (as impurity) within different activity categories. For each activity category the flow of mercury is traced from production/extraction to final release or disposal. The assessment does not cover eventual mercury consumption for defence industry applications.

Intentional uses of mercury in RF

The total intentional consumption of mercury in the Russian Federation in 2001/2002 is estimated at 151-160 t/year. Best estimates for consumption and releases of mercury to the air and waste is shown in Table 1. Almost all the data in the table are subject to uncertainty, but the reader is referred to the extended summary and discussion in Chapter 6 for more detailed information on the uncertainties. The total consumption has decreased significantly during the last decades (Figure 1). The reported total intentional mercury consumption in 1985 and 1993 was about 1,300 and 500 t/year, respectively. The trend in mercury consumption in Russia thus follows the general trend in the world. According to the Financial Department of the Ministry of the Economic Development and Trade of RF the total potential demand of mercury in Russian enterprises in 1999-2001 was 280-300/year. The discrepancy between these data and the result of the present assessment may be due to the facts that some facilities are operating below their capacity, that mercury consumption is decreasing, that the consumption varies from year to year, and that the present assessment covers civilian applications only.

The main intentional application area is chlor-alkali production in which the mercury is used as electrode. The consumption for this application was about 103 t in 2002, but the amount varies from year to year. All mercury used for this application ultimately ends up in the surroundings or waste dumps. The direct release to the air from the sector is estimated at 1.2 t/year. However, the unaccounted losses of Hg in chlor-alkali production are estimated at more than 50 t year. A part of this amount may be lost to the ground at the production site, but a part of the unaccounted losses may actually directly or indirectly be released to the air. Hg-containing solid wastes are mainly disposed of at the waste landfills and sludge storage facilities. At the moment some insignificant amount of mercury from the production of chlor-alkali is recycled. The technologies used by the enterprises producing chlorine and caustic are very diverse and the specific losses from the individual enterprises vary considerably among enterprises. The assessment indicates that there is a significant potential for reducing the releases by relatively simple improvements of management practices, although there is work and cost associated with these changes.

Besides chlor-alkali production, mercury is used in the chemical industry as a catalyst for production of vinyl chlorine monomer for PVC production. Hg-containing waste from VCM production is mainly recycled.

By today, the consumption of mercury in the chemical industry has decreased significantly from a level of about 900 t in 1985. A major part of this mercury used within this sector has been disposed of to waste dumps or released to the ground below and around the facilities. The total amount of mercury in waste disposed at the landfills (operating or abandoned) by chemical enterprises is estimated at more than 3,000 t. The historical consumption data indicate that the actual amount of the disposed Hg may be significantly more than the estimated amount.

The consumption of mercury for production of electrotechnical products and measuring equipment has also decreased markedly during the recent decade. In 1989 some 240 t mercury was used for production of such products in the Russian Federation; in 2001 about 30-40 t was used for the production. Production of mercury thermometers and mercury light sources (mercury lamps) account for the major part of the consumption of mercury for production of mercury-containing products. The consumption of mercury for the production of thermometers and light sources was in 2001 26 t and 7.5 t, respectively. The mercury content of thermometers for the domestic market is estimated at about 10 t. The thermometers ultimately end up in solid waste and thermometers and other electrotechnical equipment is estimated to be the major sources of mercury in municipal solid waste, and consequently, the major source of mercury emitted to the air from municipal waste incinerators. Mercury lamps are to some extent processed for recycling of the mercury or temporary stored for possible future processing. The total amount of mercury actually recycled from the light sources accounted for less than ten percent of the mercury content of disposed light sources (lamps) in 2001. The direct releases to the air from production of mercury-containing products are estimated to be very small compared to releases from e.g. coal combustion or non-ferrous metal production.

Table 1 Summary of mercury consumption/mobilisation, releases to air and disposal to waste dumps in 2001/2002 (t/year)*

* Best estimates; "+ ?" indicates that the value only represents the assessed activities but some categories not been assessed may add significantly to the total. Note that the total may be equally higher than indicated.

** Direct emissions from the chlor-alkali production processes. In 2002 totally 56 t lost from the process was unaccounted. A part of this may be emitted to the air.

The consumption of mercury for dental amalgams has decreased from about 6 t to about 0.8 t in 2001 during the last ten years. Because mercury amalgams fillings in Russia have been replaced with other filling materials, the mercury consumption with dental amalgams in Russia is relatively low compared to the consumption for this application in other countries. The amount of mercury disposed of to solid waste and discharged to waste water with amalgam, however, reflect the consumption ten years ago due to the life of the fillings, and it is estimated that this amount might reach 6 t/year. The discharged amalgam is estimated most likely to be one of the major sources of mercury in municipal sewage.

The use of mercury for gold mining using the amalgamation method was prohibited in Russia more than 10 years ago. Nevertheless, the assessment indicates that some illegal activities may still take place in remote areas of the country. Besides, today gold is legally extracted from waste material from former gold mining activities in which the amalgamation method was used. By the extraction a significant part of the mercury in the waste is released to the air. The estimates indicate that 1.5-6.5 t mercury may be released to the air by such activities. As more that 6,000 t mercury has been used for gold production during the history, the potential releases from mining of the waste could be very significant.

At present, there is no industrial production of mercury-containing pesticides and biocides in Russia, and their use is prohibited. Based on inventories made by the Ministry of Health it is estimated that 20-40 t mercury containing pesticides (about 0.6 t mercury) was, however, still used in 2001. The used pesticides most likely originate from stocks.

Figure 1 Consumption of mercury in the Russian Federation 1989, 1993 and 2001/02

Production and recycling of mercury

Primary production of mercury does not take place in Russia today (stopped in 1995). About 5 t/year of mercury in residues from zinc production was in 2001 exported for refining abroad. By recycling of mercury-containing waste products, among others from the production of vinyl chloride, about 30 t refined mercury was produced in 2001.

Mobilisation of mercury impurities

As the intentional consumption of mercury decreases, the mobilization of mercury impurities (trace element) increasingly account for a larger part of the total anthropogenic mercury flow. The total mobilization of mercury impurities in Russia in 2001 is estimated at 138 t (66-198 t), and the major part is mobilized with coal, oil and non-ferrous metals ores (Table 1).

By the combustion of the fuels, a significant part of the mercury in the fuel is released to the air. For example total mercury release to the atmosphere due to the application of coal as a fuel (both upgrading and combustion) was estimated for 2002 at 14.3 t, accounting for about 37 % of the total assessed atmospheric releases of mercury from Russia. At the same time for 2001, total mercury content in used coal was estimated at 15.4 t out of which 13.2 t is emitted to the atmosphere and 2.2 tonnes is transferred to waste.

Based on a limited number of available analyses of mercury in Russian crude oils it is estimated that some 33 t mercury may be mobilized with crude oils refined in Russia. Globally, the mercury content of oil and gas vary considerably from region to region and the available data indicates that the mercury content in Russian crude oil and gas may be relatively high. The data are, however, still too scarce to draw any firm conclusions. Based on a few measurements of mercury in petroleum products the total release to the air by use (combustion) of the products is estimated at 3.4 t. In Russia, like in most other countries, little is known about the fate of mercury by the initial processing and refining of the oil. The available data indicate that the processes may be significant sources of mercury releases to the air and water, but the scarce data does not allow even a first rough estimate to be made. By the processing of natural gas, a considerable amount of mercury follows the stable condensate and sulphur, and consequently the mercury content of the gas conducted to the consumers or exported is insignificant.

About 31-92 t mercury is estimated to be mobilized by extraction and processing of non-ferrous metals in Russia. The mercury will ultimately be released to the environment or end up in waste products. The total release of mercury to the air from the sector is estimated at 8.2 t, and the sector account for about 22 % of the total accounted releases to air. These estimates are very uncertain and actual measurements of mercury emission from the smelters should be carried out to validate the emission estimates.

Mercury releases to air

According to the official data the total emission of mercury from Russian enterprises that have the obligation to report on mercury emission was 2.9 t in 2001. Besides these sources, significant amounts of mercury will be released from area sources and from processes in which mercury is present as a natural impurity in the raw materials. In the present assessment the total emission to the air in Russia is estimated at 39 t, of which emission from processes where mercury is mobilised as impurity account for 77 %. Industrial processes in which mercury is intentionally used only accounted for about 3% of the total assessed emission. The emissions to the air are mainly based on expert estimates using information on mercury in fuels and raw materials in combination with information on the fate of mercury by the different processes. The estimated releases to air and other media are considered highly uncertain and there is an urgent need for further measurements of actual releases from the different processes in order to reduce the uncertainty and thereby provide a more reliable basis for considerations regarding measures for release reduction.

The major sources are estimated to be combustion of coal and oil products, and non-ferrous metal production. Because of the limited data, the mercury emission from oil refineries and diffuse air emissions from chlor-alkali production cannot be quantified and included in the inventory.

No data on the speciation of the mercury releases from Russian sources have been available. For the understanding of the atmospheric transport, fate and the potential environmental impact of the released mercury it is essential to have more information on the speciation of mercury releases.

Mercury in waste water and releases to water bodies

Compared to the atmospheric emissions, direct release to water bodies is a minor pathway for mercury release from the technosphere to the environment. According to the official statistics the total discharges of mercury from industrial activities to water bodies amount to 0.16 t. The major source category is being chemical industry i.e. production of chlor-alkali.

Based on data on mercury in municipal sewage sludge it is estimated in this assessment that the total discharges to water bodies from municipal sewage plants may constitute 3.4-11.9 t. The greater part of mercury contained in the wastewater ends up in sewage sludge, which is mainly disposed of to sludge beds or dump sites. Besides the direct industrial discharges to the water bodies, industrial activities may also be sources of mercury to the municipal sewer system. The major sources of mercury in the municipal sewage are probably mercury from dental clinics, mercury from broken thermometers and electrotechnical equipment (e.g. broken switches). A significant part of the mercury-containing equipment produced ten years ago may still be in use, and when broken, a part of the mercury may end up in the drain.

Mercury in process water from oil and gas extraction has not been assessed, but may be a significant source of direct mercury releases to water bodies.

Direct mercury releases to land

The major source of direct mercury releases to land (excluding releases to waste dumps) is releases to the ground from chlorine alkali production. A significant part of the 50 t/year of unaccounted losses from the sector is assumed to be lost to the ground below and around the production facilities.

Up to 0.6 t tonne mercury was applied to land with pesticides (mainly Granosan) in 2001. The use of mercury-containing pesticides is prohibited, and the pesticides are no longer produced in Russia. Up to 20 t mercury in obsolete mercury-containing pesticides is stored around the country.

A few percent of the sewage sludge is used for agriculture. The typical concentration of mercury in the sludge is far below the maximum allowed concentration (MAC) of mercury in sludge used for agricultural purposes. The amount of mercury spread on the fields with the sludge is less that 1 t per year.

Mercury disposal to waste dumps and emission from incineration

At least 95 t mercury contained in various waste categories each year ends up in landfills and waste dumps. This mercury may later to some extent be released to the air, to the soil, groundwater or surface water bodies. As shown in Table 1, the estimated mobilised mercury exceeds the total of the releases to air and the mercury in waste products by about 80 t. The difference illustrate that the actual fate of the mobilised mercury is still poorly understood, and the volumes that end up in waste products may be significantly higher than the indicated amounts.

As regards industrial activities with intentional use of mercury, chlor-alkali production is the major source of mercury to waste dumps. From gold mining using the amalgamation method in remote areas roughly estimated 0.3-0.8 t may end up in tailings from the mining activities, which constitutes about 10% of the total Hg consumption for gold mining (3-8 t/year).

The majority of the mercury-containing products will ultimately be disposed of to waste dumps or incineration, and at the least 24 t mercury in products is disposed of with solid waste. The major sources are thermometers, light sources, switches, batteries and dental amalgams. The amount of mercury in the present amount of waste partially reflect the consumption some years ago when the consumption of mercury was significantly higher than today. Nationally, about 2-3 percent of the municipal solid waste is incinerated, giving rise to atmospheric emission of roughly estimated 3.5 t mercury per year.

Further development of the mercury assessment

In general the data on intentional uses of mercury is quite certain, as specific information have been obtained from most industrial users of mercury in the country. A few applications in the "Other applications" section of the present document are only qualitatively described and the assessment could be made more comprehensive by obtaining more information on these applications.

As regards mobilisation of mercury impurities, the total mobilisation is for most applications estimated with high uncertainty. Combined with the uncertainty as to the fate of the mercury by processing/combustion of the materials the uncertainty on the emission estimates are quite high. It should be noted that this is the case for mercury assessments in most countries.

The assessment indicates that extraction and processing of oil and use of oil products may be major sources of mercury to air in Russia, but the assessment is based on limited data. Further investigation of the mercury content of crude oils and the fate of mercury by oil extraction and processing is needed in order to validate the estimates.

Non-ferrous metal smelters seem to be among the major point sources of mercury emission to the air. More exact information about the actual mercury content of the ores or concentrates used by the individual enterprises and actual measurements of mercury emissions are required in order to obtain more exact estimates. The assessment indicates that extraction of gold from old mining waste (from mining operations using the amalgamation method) could be a significant and increasing source of mercury releases to the air, but further investigations are needed to confirm the results.

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Version 1.0 March 2005, © Danish Environmental Protection Agency