Mercury is a toxic pollutant that exists in the atmosphere in several forms, operationally identified according to their chemical and physical characteristics. The problem of atmospheric mercury pollution has recently received increasing attention, as evidenced by the numerous European regulations issued in the last years. The normative question is closely related to the methodological one, as the quantification of the mercury species is strictly linked to the sampling and analysis methods. Due to their different bioavailability, airborne mercury forms detection is fundamental both in outdoor and indoor (i.e., workplace) environments. This paper presents an overview of European legislation on atmospheric mercury pollution, with particular attention to the Italian legislation. Starting from the regulatory protocols, the methodological framework for mercury quantification was reviewed, underlining the limits and the problems of the different methodologies and providing new guidance for the analysis. Regulatory and methodological updates have led to great specificity in mercury quantification, which is distinguished for the outdoor and indoor environments. For workplace environments, all mercury species (i.e., gaseous and particulate mercury) are required to be quantified by the Italian legislation; on the contrary, only gaseous compounds are monitored in outdoor conditions. It hence appears of primary importance that the monitoring operator chooses the sampling and analytical method for mercury sampling and analysis that correctly adheres to the normative regulations. Detailed norms describe how to carry on the monitoring in both outdoor and indoor conditions, preventing the operator’s arbitrariness, which otherwise can lead to airborne mercury underestimation/overestimation.

汞是一种有毒污染物，以多种形式存在于大气中，可根据其化学和物理特性进行操作鉴定。最近几年颁布的众多欧洲法规证明，大气中汞污染问题已受到越来越多的关注。规范性问题与方法学问题密切相关，因为汞种类的量化与采样和分析方法紧密相关。由于它们的生物利用度不同，因此无论在室外还是室内（即工作场所）环境中，空气中汞的形态检测都是至关重要的。本文概述了欧洲有关大气汞污染的法律，特别是意大利的法律。从监管协议开始，审查了汞定量方法框架，强调了各种方法的局限性和问题，并为分析提供了新的指导。法规和方法的更新已导致汞定量的高度特异性，这在室外和室内环境中均卓著。对于工作场所环境，意大利立法要求对所有汞物种（即气态汞和颗粒汞）进行量化；相反，在室外条件下仅监视气态化合物。因此，最重要的是，监测人员应选择正确遵守规范规定的汞采样和分析方法。详细的规范描述了如何在室外和室内条件下进行监控，