Gaseous methyl- and inorganic mercury in landfill gas from landfills in Florida, Minnesota, Delaware, and California

Municipal waste landfills contain numerous sources of mercury which could be emitted to the atmosphere. Their generation of methane by anaerobic bacteria suggests that landfills may act as bioreactors for methylated mercury compounds. Since our previous study at a single Florida landfill, gaseous inorganic and methylated mercury species have now been identified and quantified in landfill gas at nine additional municipal landfills in several regions of the US. Total gaseous mercury occurs at concentrations in the μg m−3 range, while methylated compounds occur at concentrations in the ng m−3 range at all but one of the landfill sites. Dimethylmercury is the predominant methylated species, at concentrations up to 100 ng m−3, while monomethyl mercury was generally lower. Limited measurements near sites where waste is exposed for processing (e.g. working face, transfer areas) suggest that dimethylmercury is released during these activities as well. Although increasing amounts of landfill gas generated in the US are flared (which should thermally decompose the organic mercury to inorganic mercury), unflared landfill gas is a potentially important anthropogenic source of methylated mercury emissions to the atmosphere.