Substance flow analysis of mercury in Malaysia

Özet

For the appropriate management of mercury, sources of emissions and release, as well as the amountsreleased, need to be clarified. We developed a mercury emissions inventory for Malaysia by measuringthe actual emissions levels in two solid waste incineration facilities (SWIF-a and SWIF-b) and a coal-firedpower station, as well as the mercury concentrations in the combustion residues and feedstock. Themercury concentration in the emissions from SWIF-a ranged from 1.1 to 27.6 mg/Nm3, while that fromSWIF-b averaged 35.1 mg/Nm3. The estimated mercury concentration in emissions from the coal-firedpower station ranged from 5.2 to 39.5 mg/Nm3. We estimated the emissions and release of mercuryinto various media, and applied a substance flow analysis to link the flows and stocks. The total potentialemissions in Malaysia in 2012 were an estimated 7.60e59.09 Mg (7.60e38.09 Mg excluding artisanal andsmall-scale gold mining [ASGM]). The measurements for the SWIFs and the coal-fired power station wereused to refine the emissions inventory for Malaysia. In the future, it will be necessary to create reliableinventories for both atmospheric emissions and release into other media in Malaysia by collecting morereliable measurement data.