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The Mercury Problem
Mercury causes severe health problems for humans and wildlife. Although there has been much public education about the effect of lead and other heavy metals, current information on mercury does not adequately inform the public about the threat people face from mercury pollution. Clean Air Council is concerned about the dangers surrounding mercury and addresses them in its mercury program. For the details of what mercury is and where it can be found, see the Council's fact sheets on mercury: Mercury and Public Health and Mercury Thermometers (requires the free Adobe Reader software).
Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is released into the environment from a number of different sources. The initial release of mercury is from volcanoes and geothermal activity. Once released it is stored in the earth's biomass (particularly trees, brush coal and oil). Combustion of these sources releases mercury into the environment.
A front loader piles coal at a generating station in New York. Photo by David Parsons, DOE/NREL. |
The largest anthropogenic source of mercury is coal-fired electric power plants, accounting for about 40 percent of total U.S. man-made mercury emissions. The coal combustion process releases large amounts of mercury into the atmosphere through smokestacks. This mercury then falls in precipitation into the nation's lakes and rivers. Once in the water, bacteria can transform the mercury into the particularly dangerous organic form, methylmercury. Methylmercury is a fat-soluble molecule that can move through cell membranes and become attached to muscle tissue. Methylmercury is easily absorbed through fish gills, and because it is bioaccumulative it remains in body tissue and builds up along the food chain.
Mercury is also found in electric switches and relays, medical and measuring devices, dental amalgam (silver fillings), thermostats, lamps and other sources.
The effects of methylmercury can be devastating for humans, especially for fetuses and nursing infants. To date the recorded health effects include impaired memory, delayed development, reflex abnormalities, and even cerebral palsy. People who eat a lot of fish and seasonal sporting anglers are also at increased risk of mercury exposure. Effects on these populations include lung, liver, kidney, and neurological damage. Chronic exposure to mercury can also lead to emotional instability, sleeplessness, muscle weakness, headaches and damage to the digestive system.
Swordfish can contain among the highest levels of mercury of all fish. |
Clean Air Council Actions
The Council is working with state legislators to draft legislation that would better address the mercury problem in Pennsylvania. The Council hopes that the legislation will encompass the following information: requirement for dentists to install mercury amalgam separators in their wastewater lines, banning of mercury-added novelty consumer products, ban on school use of elemental mercury, labeling of mercury-added consumer products and the creation of an advisory committee on mercury pollution.
Clean Air Council is working to increase participation among Pennsylvania scrap yards in the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program. This initiative offers a bounty for mercury-containing switches in light assemblies and ABS units of cars. As of June 2007, more than 100 facilities in Pennsylvania were participating, and more than 5,300 facilities in 42 states have joined. In 2006, the program recovered 241,911 switches, amounting to 532.2 pounds of mercury.
Also in 2006, the Council worked to pass a regulation that limited the amount of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in the commonwealth. In 2003, Pennsylvania had 36 coal-fired power plants that accounted for about 3.85 tons of mercury emitted into the air, ranking PA as second highest in the nation for mercury emissions. Under the PA State regulation, 90% of that amount will be eliminated by 2015 through preventative measures. This regulation will protect health and the environment alike, and is not just good for Pennsylvania, but for the whole nation.
Other State Laws
There have been several other states in which have enacted similar legislation including Illinois, California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. Though these laws vary greatly from state to state, we feel that the NY state law is the strongest legislation to be enacted to date. A copy of this legislation can be found at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8853.html
Mercury Reports
Pennsylvania
Voluntary Mercury Automobile Switch Removal Guide (PA Department
of Environmental Protection, March 2005)
Mercury
in the Mid-Atlantic: 2005 Mid-Atlantic Report Card (National
Wildlife Federation, January 2005)
Fishing
for Trouble: How Toxic Mercury Contaminates Fish in U.S.
Waterways (Clear the Air, October 2004)
Beyond
Mercury: How the Fine Print of the Bush Administration Plan
Means More Arsenic, Dioxin, Lead and Other Toxic Air Pollution
(Clear the Air, August 2004)
Annual
Power Plant Toxic Air Emissions in Pennsylvania (Clear the
Air, August 2004) |
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