Hazardous Metal Monitoring Survey

This survey aims to contribute to the domestic and international mercury management. The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has been conducting monitoring survey on mercury concentration in the atmosphere (background concentration) at Cape Hedo in Okinawa Prefecture since Japanese fiscal year (hereinafter referred to as “FY”) 2007, where the impact of local emission source is minimal and regional trend in mercury concentration can be monitored. The monitoring results have been published every year since FY2010. Also, monitoring survey at Oga Peninsula of Akita Prefecture has been conducted since August 2014. In these surveys, Cape Hedo in Okinawa Prefecture and Oga in Akita Prefecture have been investigated as domestic background sites to understand the state of global mercury emission, trends in concentration levels, and their impacts on the environment of Japan. Concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury, gaseous oxidized mercury, and particle-bound mercury in the atmosphere, as well as total mercury concentration in precipitation have been measured.
 

• Cape Hedo, Okinawa Prefecture

　Cape Hedo Atmosphere and Aerosol Monitoring Station (CHAAMS), the National Institute for 
　Environmental Studies, located in Ginama, Kunigami-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture
　(26.87°N, 128.25°E, altitude 60 m a.s.l.)

• Oga, Akita Prefecture

　Adjacent to the Funakawa Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Station, located in　Izumidai, 
　Funagawaminato-funagawa, Oga-shi, Akita Prefecture
　(39.89°N, 139.85°E, altitude 23 m a.s.l.)

The atmospheric mercury monitoring was conducted by using a continuous mercury speciation analyzer. The precipitation was collected by a wet-only sampler and was analyzed for mercury concentration based on the method (method 1631, Revision E) specified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Category	Measurement items	Measurement frequency	Site
Atmosphere	Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM)	Continuous (approximately 16 times/day)	Cape Hedo, Oga
	Gaseous Oxidized Mercury (GOM)	Continuous (approximately 8 times/day)
	Particle-Bound Mercury (PBM)
	Other metal elements in aerosols (17 hazardous elements and 6 index elements)	Weekly (7-day continuous sampling)	Cape Hedo
Precipitation	Mercury concentration in precipitation	Weekly (7-day continuous sampling)	Cape Hedo, Oga

※ "Gaseous Elemental Mercury" in this survey refers to the elemental mercury existing in the air (Hg_⁰). "Gaseous Oxidized Mercury" refers to the oxidized mercury (Hg_²⁺) in gaseous form, and "Particle-Bound Mercury" is mercury suspended or bound to particulate matters in the atmosphere.
※ The measurement method of this survey is different from that of the Hazardous Air Pollutant Monitoring Survey conducted under the Air Pollution Control Act.

・Cape Hedo, Okinawa Prefecture
　Atmospheric mercury species:
　　Data format: ［ CSV ］
　　Measurement period: GEM: October 2007-
　　GOM/PBM: October 2009-
　Mercury in precipitation:
　　Data format: ［ CSV ］
　Measurement period: April 2016-
・Oga, Akita Prefecture
　Atmospheric mercury species: 
　　Data format: ［ CSV ］
　　Measurement period: GEM/GOM/PBM: August 2014-
　Mercury in precipitation:
　　Data format: ［ CSV ］
　　Measurement period: April 2016-  

Other measurement items

Meteorological data (1) Oku JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) Weather Station (AMeDAS station) Location: Kunigami-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture (26°50’6’’N, 128°16’18’’E, altitude 232 m a.s.l.) Past meteorological data (by JMA) ※Oku Weather Station is located about 4 km SSE away from CHAAMS. (2) Hedo National Acid Deposition Monitoring Station Location: Kunigami-son, Kunigami-Gun, Okinawa Prefecture (26°52’0’’N, 128°14’56’’E) Measurement data of Hedo National Acid Deposition Monitoring Station (Atmospheric Environmental Regional Observation System of Ministry of the Environment of Japan (Soramame)) ※Hedo National Acid Deposition Monitoring Station is located adjacent to CHAAMS. ※Hourly data (preliminary reported value) of the most recent year can be downloaded from "Soramame" web site.

• ​Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM): maintenance for continuous mercury measurement equipment (Tekran Instruments Corporation) and , spike recovery test.
• Mercury in precipitation (for each analysis): operational blank test, duplicate analysis (laboratory analysis), spike recovery test (pure water added), MDL test (confirmation test on lower limit of detection and lower limit of determination)

1.Any intellectual property rights or copyrights of Hazardous Metal Monitoring Survey belongs to Ministry of the Environment of Japan.
2.All or a part of the database may not be transferred, loaned, or distributed to a third party.
3.MOEJ is not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by the use and interpretation of the website.
4.It may only be used for non-commercial purposes, such as scientific, policy-related, or educational activities.
5.Please cite that you used the Atmospheric mercury species data file and the mercury in precipitation data file of this database when publishing the results of using the data.
6.Source: Ministry of the Environment, Hazardous Metal Monitoring Survey  (https://www.env.go.jp/en/chemi/mcm/bms.html)
7.Unauthorized reproduction and alteration of data are prohibited.

Contact Information
		Office of Mercury Management Environmental Health Department Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan E-mail：suigin@env.go.jp