Observational study of content of Hg in fog water relative to air pollution in suburbs of Nanjing

Using in situ fog water samples gathered in the suburbs of Nanjing city, China in December, 2006, with their analysis performed, an attempt is undertaken of relation of Hg content with air pollution. It is found that foggy weather is unfavorable for diffusing pollutants, resulting in the increase in concentrations of PM10, CO and total hydrocarbon, followed by their drop, and the density of pollutants changes roughly in phase with fog genesis/lysis; posterior to fog dispersal the concentration of SO2, PM10 and NOx is 2.5 to 10 times as high as prior to fog. Hg concentration ranges over 2.965 to 7.205μg/L, averaging 5.471μg/L, the high value appearing in the fog maintenance. Correlation analysis is made of Hg with pollutants, reaching the coefficient of 0.939 between Hg and CO that accounts for their homology.