Global Transport and Source-Receptor Relationships for Arsenic

Arsenic and many of it compounds are toxic pollutants in the global environment. They can be transport long distance in the atmosphere but the global source-receptor relationships between various regions have not been accessed yet. We develop the first global model for arsenic to better understand and quantify the inter-continental transport of arsenic. Our model reproduces the observed arsenic concentrations in surface air for various sites around the world. Our global arsenic emission inventory shows a global total anthropogenic arsenic emission of 21.4 Gg yr-1 and the global average atmospheric lifetime of arsenic is calculated to be of 5.1 days. Arsenic emissions from Asia and South America are the dominant sources for arsenic in the northern and southern hemisphere, respectively. Asian emissions are found to contribute to 53% and 41% of the total atmospheric arsenic deposition over Arctic and Northern America respectively. Another 32% of the atmospheric arsenic deposition to the Arctic region is attributed to European emissions.