Assessment of the mercury hazard for men with long-term inhalation exposure: standard scenarios in an exposed area

Introduction. One of the approaches to identifying a hazard to public health is the standard scenario method.

The aim – to test approaches to assessing exposure load under conditions of long-term exposure to mercury coming from the environment and industrial environment.

Materials and methods. Standard scenarios for men of three ages (20, 40, and 60 years) were considered; three urban residential zones (up to 3 km, 3–5 km, and more than 5 km from the combined industrial site); and two work options (at enterprises located on and off-site). Data from monitoring mercury concentrations in the atmospheric air of a “model city” and the air of the combined industrial site of an enterprise with a mercury electrolysis shop during various periods of its operation were used. Calculation and assessment of doses and hazard quotients were conducted in accordance with R 2.1.10.3968–23.

Results. During the period of active operation of the enterprise, the average annual concentrations of mercury in the atmospheric air in residential zone I of the “model city” were 0.00054 mg/m³, in zone II – 0.00046 mg/m³, in zone III – 0.000008 mg/m³. During the period of equipment dismantling the average annual values of mercury concentrations in the atmospheric air of the city decreased significantly and reached 0.0000001 mg/m³. In the post-operational period, mercury was not detected in the atmospheric air. The hazard coefficient value corresponds to the alarming level for men working at enterprises on the territory of the combined industrial site, in the following groups: 40 years – with a place of residence in zone I; 60 years – regardless of place of residence.

Limitations. The use of standard exposure conditions in scenarios that do not take into account the individual characteristics of daily exposure and the occupational route, including for male workers in the electrolysis shop, incomplete data on the long-term actual content of the pollutant in the air of the combined industrial site and residential area introduce uncertainties in the assessment of quantitative chronic exposure.

Conclusion. Modeling scenarios of long-term mercury exposure in men not exposed to the toxicant in their workplaces demonstrates the risk posed by mercury emissions from the air of the integrated industrial site during the operation of the enterprise.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require the presentation of the conclusion of the biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contributions:
Mylnikova I.V. – data collection and analysis, scenario calculations, text writing;
Efimova N.V. – study concept and design, scenario development, text writing;
Savchenkov M.F. – study concept and design.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study was carried out within the framework of the Exploratory Scientific Research "Development of technologies for a comprehensive assessment of the health of the population living in areas of accumulated damage from previous economic activity in single-industry towns in Siberia".

Received: June 2, 2025 / Revised: November 27, 2025 / Accepted: December 2, 2025 / Published: January 15, 2026

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