Transboundary Pollution by HMs and POPs (country-specific report)

MSC-E Report 6/2003

ABSTRACT

The aim of this note is to provide EMEP countries with country-oriented information on transboundary pollution by Heavy Metals (HMs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) for a number of European countries generated under EMEP. This part of the note is concerned to the information on Finland.

The information presented in the form of figures and tables and includes emission, modeling and measurement data. The note could help national experts to have at hand a set of data concerning the transboundary aspects of atmospheric pollution. In particular, the information presented in this note can be used by countries in preparation of the EMEP Assessment Report. More detailed information including numerical data for maps and diagrams can be found in the Internet www.emep.int or www.msceast.org.

The note has the following structure.

Heavy metals: lead, cadmium and mercury.

For each pollutant the following information is presented:

· Trends of emissions, atmospheric concentrations and depositions for the period from 1990 to 2001. Emission scenario and spatial distribution of emissions used in calculations of lead, cadmium and mercury transport for 2001 is mainly based on national data officially submitted to the UNECE Secretariat completed if necessary by expert estimates.

· Transboundary depositions calculated on the basis of emission and meteorological data for 2001. Maps of lead, cadmium and mercury depositions from national sources, maps of total depositions to the country and maps of contribution of external anthropogenic sources to deposition to the country are presented. Pie charts illustrating the deposition budget for the country and contributions of main external sources are also given.

· Comparison of the modeling results against measurements for 2001 is considered. Measurement data were collected by Chemical Coordinating Centre of EMEP (CCC). Along with the mean annual values measured and calculated monthly mean concentrations of heavy metals are also presented.

Persistent organic pollutants. The information is given for five pollutants: dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenils (PCBs), benzo[a]pyren (B[a]P), and benzo[b]fluoranthene (B[b]F). For each pollutant except for B[a]P the following information is presented:

· Trends of emissions and concentrations in main environmental compartments (atmosphere, soil and vegetation) for the period from 1970 to 2000 for PCDD/Fs and B[b]F and from 1970 to 1998 for HCB and PCBs.

· Spatial distributions of emissions and mean annual concentrations in main environmental compartments for the final year of the simulation period.

· Comparison of modeling results against measurements carried out at the EMEP measurement sites during 1986-2000, found in the literature and obtained from national experts. For comparison available annual averages of concentrations in atmosphere, soil, vegetation and precipitation are used.

For B[a]P the work on evaluation of transboundary fluxes in the EMEP region by country-to-country scheme was initiated in 2001. At present country-to-country matrices were calculated for 1998, 1999 and 2000. Here we present results for 2000:

· Spatial distribution of emissions in 2000. The source of emission totals and spatial distribution (official data, expert estimates) is indicated.

· Transboundary depositions calculated on the basis of emission and meteorological data for 2000.

· Maps of depositions from national sources, maps of total depositions to the country and maps of contribution of external anthropogenic sources to deposition to the country are presented.

· Pie charts illustrating the deposition budget for the country and contributions of main external sources to deposition to the country. Besides, the map of B[a]P mean annual concentrations in surface air together with contributions of main sources to these concentrations are presented.

· Comparison of modeling results against measurements carried out at the EMEP measurement sites, found in the literature and obtained from national experts is presented. For comparison available annual averages of concentrations in atmosphere and precipitation are used.

The results of model evaluation of deposition and contamination levels in main environmental compartments strongly depend on input data used for modeling: emissions, land cover, soil organic content, leaf area index etc. Values of soil organic content are crucial for calculations of contamination levels in soil. The bulk of these data are taken from expert estimates (see model description in the Internet, www.emep.int or www.msceast.org). Refinement of these data by national experts can essentially enhance the quality of model evaluation of environmental contamination levels.