ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses present and past contributions to metals in the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic sources and reviews factors governing the atmospheric transport and deposition of metals. Elements are termed atmophile when their mass transport through the atmosphere is greater than that in streams. Metals are removed from the atmosphere by dry deposition and wet deposition. Dry deposition denotes the direct transfer of species, both gaseous and particulate, to the Earth’s surface and proceeds without the aid of precipitation. In comparison to the other heavy metals, one of the major distinguishing features of Hg is the great extent to which it is re–circulated in the environment via the atmosphere. Atmospheric dispersion models capable of reproducing the observed deposition and air concentration patterns of heavy metals are sophistical tools for analyzing the extent of the antropogenic impact of emissions. The metal emissions from industries in Europe and North America have been substantially reduced.
