Contrasting changes in long-term wet mercury deposition and socioeconomic development in the largest city of Tibet

Information about the long-term trends of wet mercury (Hg) deposition is important for assessing the impact of atmospheric pollution on environmental health. As the most populated and capital city of Tibet, Lhasa is isolated far away from the heavily-polluted urban clusters in China. In this study, a 10-year observation was conducted in Lhasa to establish the long-term trend of wet Hg deposition and investigate the possible causes of this variation trend. Our study showed no significant increase in wet Hg deposition while Lhasa has achieved rapid population and economic growth during the study period. The contrasting changes in long-term wet Hg deposition and so-cioeconomic development (e.g., GDP growth) could be greatly attributed to the efforts in preventing and control-ling air pollution at regional and local levels. This trend in Lhasa differs greatly from those observed by a rapid increase of Hg trend in the remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Our findings indicate that the remote cryospheric areas over the Tibetan Plateau are prone to be affected by transboundary Hg pollution, and more attention should be paid to its environmental and health effects for future study. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Our study in Lhasa showed no significant increase in wet mercury deposition over a 10-year period, despite rapid population and economic growth. The contrasting changes between wet mercury deposition and socioeconomic development can be attributed to efforts in controlling air pollution regionally and locally. In contrast, remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau have seen a rapid increase in mercury deposition, indicating the need for more attention to transboundary pollution in these cryospheric regions.