Mobile mercury species in soils of natural and natural-technogenic landscapes

Literature data on mercury contents in natural waters are reviewed. Soils from natural and natural-technogenic landscapes of southern West Siberia are studied, and the solubility of their mercury in water, ammonium acetate, and hydrochloric extracts is determined. The concentrations of mercury from natural soils in water and ammonium extracts (0.045–0.060 μg/l) are consistent with its calculated approximate average solubility in unpolluted waters reported in the literature.The average content of mercury in extracts from urbanized soils is higher: its solubility in water extracts is 5.6–6.9 times higher; in ammonium acetate extracts, 3.8–12.4 times; and in hydrochloric extracts, 1.3–1.6 times. The boundary values of mercury solubility in water and ammonium acetate extracts from the studied soils (0.07–0.10 μg/l) permit revealing technogenic pollution at its early stages.