Mercury is a toxic and noxious element and is the only metal that naturally occurs as gas. One of the most challenging topics (included in the United Nations Minimata convention) is to understand the adsorption–release processes of manmade materials (e.g., concrete, bricks, tiles, painting). Adsorption of Hg by construction and demolition waste materials has recently been studied, but investigations on how much Hg⁰ can be released from these products are rather poor. The abandoned mining site of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, central Italy) where, for about one century, cinnabar was roasted to produce liquid mercury, is known for the high concentrations of (i) Hg⁰ in edifices and structures and (ii) total and leachate Hg in synthetic materials. In the present paper, a new, simple and low-cost method to measure the amount of GEM (Gaseous Elemental Mercury) released from anthropic materials (concrete, wall rocks, and tiles) located in the Hg⁰-rich environments of the former mining site, is proposed. The efficiency of a specific paint that was supposed to act as blocking agent to Hg⁰ was also tested.

中文翻译：

---

一种评估合成材料中Hg0释放的低成本，可靠的新方法

汞是一种有毒和有害的元素，是唯一以气体形式自然存在的金属。最具挑战性的主题之一（包括在《联合国Minimata公约》中）是了解人造材料（例如混凝土，砖块，瓷砖，油漆）的吸附释放过程。最近已经研究了建筑和拆除废料对Hg的吸附，但是对于从这些产品中释放出多少Hg ^0的研究却很少。众所周知，Abbadia San Salvatore（意大利中部锡耶纳）一个废弃的采矿场，在这里烘烤朱砂以产生液态汞大约一个世纪，该地区的高浓度（i）Hg ⁰建筑物和结构中的（ii）合成材料中的总汞和渗滤液中的汞。在本文中，一种新的，简单且低成本的方法可测量位于前矿山富含Hg ^0的环境中的人类材料（混凝土，围岩和瓷砖）释放的GEM（气态元素汞）的量网站，建议。还测试了应该用作Hg ⁰封闭剂的特定涂料的效率。