Vermont Forest Indicators Dashboard

Mercury Deposition

Score for 2018:
--/5
Long-Term Trend:
Scores are 
Mercury is a persistent bioaccumulative toxin, which means that it stays in the environment for a long time, cycling through air, water, and soil. Mercury can be deposited by wet and dry deposition, and is assimilated into plants and soils. It accumulates in organisms, leading to damage with long-term consequences1. Elevated mercury can cause reductions in growth and reproduction, and increases the rate of wildlife mortality. Here, we quantify the annual amount of mercury deposited at an air quality site in Underhill, Vermont. Annual scores are computed as the difference between the target concentration of 0 µg/m2 and the maximum (the maximum value in record + 10% of the range).
1Driscoll, C.T., Han, Y.J., Chen, C.Y., Evers, D.C., Lambert, K.F., Holsen, T.M., Kamman, N.C. and Munson, R.K., 2007. Mercury contamination in forest and freshwater ecosystems in the northeastern United States. BioScience, 57(1), pp.17-28.