Long-term monitoring of data of ambient mercury (Hg) on a global scale to assess its emission, transport, atmospheric chemistry, and deposition processes is vital to understanding the impact of Hg pollution on the environment. The Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project was funded by the European Commission (http://www.gmos.eu) and started in November 2010 with the overall goal to develop a coordinated global observing system to monitor Hg on a global scale, including a large network of ground-based monitoring stations, ad hoc periodic oceanographic cruises and measurement flights in the lower and upper troposphere as well as in the lower stratosphere. To date, more than 40 ground-based monitoring sites constitute the global network covering many regions where little to no observational data were available before GMOS. This work presents atmospheric Hg concentrations recorded worldwide in the framework of the GMOS project (2010–2015), analyzing Hg measurement results in terms of temporal trends, seasonality and comparability within the network. Major findings highlighted in this paper include a clear gradient of Hg concentrations between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, confirming that the gradient observed is mostly driven by local and regional sources, which can be anthropogenic, natural or a combination of both.

In this preliminary study, the silver nanoparticle (Ag NP)-based dressing, Acticoat™ Flex 3, has been applied to a 3D fibroblast cell culture in vitro and to a real partial thickness burn patient. The in vitro results show that Ag NPs greatly reduce mitochondrial activity, while cellular staining techniques show that nuclear integrity is maintained, with no signs of cell death. For the first time, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses were carried out on skin biopsies taken from a single patient during treatment. The results show that Ag NPs are released as aggregates and are localized in the cytoplasm of fibroblasts. No signs of cell death were observed, and the nanoparticles had different distributions within the cells of the upper and lower dermis. Depth profiles of the Ag concentrations were determined along the skin biopsies. In the healed sample, most of the silver remained in the surface layers, whereas in the unhealed sample, the silver penetrated more deeply. The Ag concentrations in the cell cultures were also determined. Clinical observations and experimental data collected here are consistent with previously published articles and support the safety of Ag NP-based dressing in wound treatment.

The atmospheric deposition of mercury (Hg) occurs via several mechanisms, including dry and wet scavenging by precipitation events. In an effort to understand the atmospheric cycling and seasonal depositional characteristics of Hg, wet deposition samples were collected for approximately 5 years at 17 selected GMOS monitoring sites located in the Northern and Southern hemispheres in the framework of the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project. Total mercury (THg) exhibited annual and seasonal patterns in Hg wet deposition samples. Interannual differences in total wet deposition are mostly linked with precipitation volume, with the greatest deposition flux occurring in the wettest years. This data set provides a new insight into baseline concentrations of THg concentrations in precipitation worldwide, particularly in regions such as the Southern Hemisphere and tropical areas where wet deposition as well as atmospheric Hg species were not investigated before, opening the way for future and additional simultaneous measurements across the GMOS network as well as new findings in future modeling studies.

To investigate the impact of marine aerosols on global climate change it is important to study their chemical composition and size distribution. Amino acids are a component of the organic nitrogen in aerosols and particles containing amino acids have been found to be efficient ice nuclei. The main aim of this study was to investigate the L- and D-free amino acid composition as possible tracers of primary biological production in Antarctic aerosols from three different areas: two continental bases, Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS) on the coast of the Ross Sea, Concordia Station at Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau, and the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic continent. Studying the size distribution of amino acids in aerosols allowed us to characterize this component of the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in marine aerosols near their source and after long-range transport. The presence of only free L-amino acids in our samples is indicative of the prevalence of phytoplanktonic material. Sampling at these three points allowed us to study the reactivity of these compounds during long-range transport. The mean total amino acid concentration detected at MZS was 11 pmol m−3, a higher percentage of amino acids were found in the fine fraction. The aerosol samples collected at Dome C had the lowest amino acid values (0.7 and 0.8 pmol m−3), and the coarse particles were found to have higher concentrations of amino acids compared to the coastal site. The amino acid composition in the aerosol collected at Dome C had also changed compared to the coastal site, suggesting that physical and chemical transformations had occurred during long range transport. During the sampling cruise on the R/V Italica on the Southern Ocean, high concentrations of amino acids were found in the total suspended particles, this we attribute to the presence of intact biological material (as microorganisms or plant material) in the sample.