Mercury environmental impact

Microbial processes can also detoxify mercury ions and organic compounds by reducing the mercury to the elemental form, which is volatile (86). This certainly reduces the environmental impact of compounds such as methylmercury, however, such a bioprocess would have to include a mercury capture system before it could be exploited on a large scale with pubHc support. 

Accumulation of metals in the core sampled in the northern Lagoon, relative to the industrial core, are about 5 times lower for mercury and comparable for the other two metals. Metals reaching this area of the Lagoon are carried by fresh water streams from the basin. A very high number of small productions, whose environmental impact has not yet been adequately evaluated, contribute to this pollution. 

Nanda, D.R. and B.B. Mishra. 1997. Effect of solid waste from a chlor-alkali factory on rice plants mercury accumulation and changes in biochemical variables. Pages 601-612 in P.N. Cheremisinoff (ed.). Ecological Issues and Environmental Impact Assessment. Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, TX. 

One can see that most environmental impacts in global, regional and local scale are related to mercury, lead, and cadmium. These metals are considered in more detail... 

Heavy metals are widely used as catalysts in the manufacture of anthraquinonoid dyes. Mercury is used when sulphonating anthraquinones and copper when reacting arylamines with bromoanthraquinones. Much effort has been devoted to minimising the trace metal content of such colorants and in effluents from dyemaking plants. Metal salts are used as reactants in dye synthesis, particularly in the ranges of premetallised acid, direct or reactive dyes, which usually contain copper, chromium, nickel or cobalt. These structures are described in detail in Chapter 5, where the implications in terms of environmental problems are also discussed. Certain basic dyes and stabilised azoic diazo components (Fast Salts) are marketed in the form of tetrachlorozincate complex salts. The environmental impact of the heavy metal salts used in dye application processes is dealt with in Volume 2. 

O Research the environmental impact of mercury pollution. Describe the main sources of mercury in the environment, the effects of mercury on human health, and at least one incident in which humans were harmed by mercury pollution. 

Since the 1970s, there have been concerns about the environmental impact of poorly biodegradable cheiants such as EDTA and DTPA, as they could potentially remobilize toxic heavy metals, such as cadmium, mercury, and lead, from river sediments back into the water column [10]. More recent concern has focused on large-scale emissions from photographic laboratories, pulp and paper mills, metal treatment plants, and use of industrial detergents, as higher dosages of cheiants are more likely to cause a... 

Some medical offices now use a digital apparatus to test blood pressure, reducing the environmental impact of mercury. But the mercury sphygmomanometer is still considered the gold standard and is used to calibrate the accuracy of other devices. 

Rytuba J. J. (2000) Mercury mine drainage and processes that control its environmental impact. Sci. Tot. Environ. 260, 57-71. 

United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Mercury update impact on fish advisories. 2001. Office of Water. Grandjean P, Weihe P, White RF, Debes F, Araki S, Yokoyama K, Murata K, Sorensen N, Dahl R, Jorgensen PJ. Cognitive deficit in 7-year old children with prenatal exposure to methylmercury. Neurotoxicol.Teratol. 1997 19 417-28. 

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1999) Mercury update Impact on fish advisories. Office of Water, Washington, DC. Fact Sheet EPA/823/F-99/016. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mercury Update Impact on Fish Advisories, fact sheet, June 2001. Available at www.epa.gov/ost/fishadvice/mercupd.pdf. 

There is really very little consistency across these environmental impact assessment methods except that the Swedish and Dutch systems rate cadmium the battery metal with the most adverse effects, while the Tellus and Ecoscarcity Methods rate mercury the most adverse battery metal. Zinc, manganese, nickel and even lead have relatively low effects except in the U.S. EPA system, which however is the one system which is most closely tied to actual quantitative assessments of enviromnental and human health toxicological end points. What is very surprising is the relatively low impact values for mercury in the Swedish and Dutch schemes given the general worldwide concern for mercury. 

Based on its serious environmental impact, the determination of total mercury in cmde oil is a priority. Researchers have used numerous detection techniques in the pursuit of total mercury... 

Rytuba JJ (2003) Mercury from mineral deposits and potential environmental impact. Environ Geol 43 326-338... 

Mercury losses during the process are considerable and the environmental impact of the mining, above and beyond the effects of erosion and deforestation, is enormous. There is evidence of mercury pollution of the... 

EnvirOTimental trends are having an impact on electrical applications. Waste legislation includes WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive 2002/%/EC which holds producers responsible for collection and recovery of materials at end of Ufe. Additionally, materials that contain bromine-based flame retardants must be removed from the waste and handled separately. In restrictions on use of hazardous substances (ROHS) directive 2002/95/EC, the use of various hazardous materials is restricted. These include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ether. Since the introduction of Blue Angel in Germany in 1978, several other eco-labels have been implemented. These include TCO (Sweden), Nordic Swan, Milieukeur (Netherlands), and the EU Ecolabel. The general purpose of these labels is to provide cmisumers with information relating to the environmental impact of the products they purchase. 

Figure 3.5 Potential environmental impact (PEI) profiles for amounts of pollutants with biodegradation described by half-life in the water compartment. Bold lines represent mercury process pollutants light gray lines represent diaphragm process pollutants. PEI have been calculated using the waste reduction algorithm to present human toxicity potential by ingestion.

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