Fróðskaparrit - 01.07.2004, Page 89

KYKSILVUR í FØROYUM - EIN GJØGNUMGONGD AV TØKUM DÁTUM
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posited either by dry or by wet deposition.
Recent research suggests that there is a po-
lar-sunrise driven mechanism for deposi-
tion of atmospheric mercury, and this, in
combination with the biomagnifying prop-
erties of mercury, makes the Artic areas
susceptible to global mercury emissions
(Schroeder et al, 1998; Lindberg et al.,
2002).
The purpose of the present review is to
produce a mercury data compilation and
through that process also to achieve an
overview of the mercury concentrations
and levels found in the Faroese environ-
ment. The overview will serve as a pointer
to sources of data on mercury, and pinpoint
the areas of the environment where further
study on the mercury inflow, concentration
and transport is needed. Finally, it will pro-
vide a route to a realization of where or in
what matrices there is a potentially elevat-
ed mercury concentration.
Literature sources
The present review is based mainly on the
environmental data report “Føroya Um-
hvørvi í tølum“ which is a series of data re-
ports, published every second year since
1997 by the Faroese institutions which
keep, use and/or produce environmental
data; the Food and Environmental Agency,
the Fisheries Laboratory, the Faculty of
natural sciences of the University of the
Faroe Islands and the Museum of Natural
History. Other sources of data are project
reports published by the Food and Environ-
mental Agency since 1996, some of which
are only available as technical reports as
photocopies whereas others are published
in printed versions with ISBN no. A plenti-
ful source on new information both on met-
als like mercury but also covering environ-
mental pollutants in general, is the report
“AMAP Greenland and the Faroe Islands
1997-2001 Vol. 3 The environment of the
Faroe Islands (Hoydal and Dam, 2003).
Other sources of data have been scientific
report including those produced by stu-
dents who have undertaken to elucidate
mercury in various parts of the environ-
ment. For further references on Faroese sci-
entific papers in general, readers are re-
ferred to the archive at the Museum of Nat-
ural History and to “Fróðskaparrit”, a
Faroese scientific journal issued yearly by
“Føroya Fróðskaparfelag” (Societas Scien-
tiarum Færoensis).
Atmosphere and precipitation
As per today, there have been two studies
involving actual measurements of mercury
in air in the Faroe Islands (Daugaard, 2003;
Skov et al., 2003). Apart from these, a
study modelling the deposition of mercury
on the Faroes based on the 1995 global
mercury inventory was completed in 2002
(Christensen, 2003).
Measurements ofmercury in air
The longest and most comprehensive mea-
surement-series on air in the Faroe Islands
is the one that was done at the EMEP sta-
tion Akraberg at the southernmost part of
the Faroe Islands in the period 1979 tol991
by the National Environmental Research
Institute, NERI, (Kemp, 1984; 1993;
1994). These measurements were done on