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Mercury is still rising
Feb. 4, 2009A little mercury never hurt anyone, right? Not quite. With regards to mercury air emissions which are still being debated, the U.S. actually has two very separate views on the issue.
Mercury exposure, especially if it’s a constant in the work place, can be harmful to ingest. It’s potentially damaging to the central nervous system, digestive tract, and according to the World Health Organization, mercury vapor corrupts the kidneys, lungs, and is ultimately fatal.
WHO tries to lend a hand in informing the public about dangers of mercury emissions in the workplace, schools, and homes, and strives to create programs to promote this awareness. But WHO is not the world police and can only encourage countries to clean up their acts.
The Environmental Protection Agency passed a Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) administered on March 15, 2005, in an attempt to end, or at least significantly reduce, the amount of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The plan also gave facilities different options in which they could test for mercury emissions.
The National Institutes of Health also takes action to reduce emissions by listing mercury-free equipment for the biomedical field, another work area in which mercury is used. However, the information seems to be outdated and links readers to potentially helpful sites that have been out of commission for the past few years.
CAMR was supposed to go into effect 60 days after its proposal in 2005. It seemed like a viable plan to end the increased number of plants that accounted for about 65% of total mercury output. But the EPA’s rule was petitioned and deemed invalid on Feb. 8, 2008, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This ruling however, was only judged on the basis of the EPA’s failure to determine whether or not EGUs (electric utility steam engine units that produce mercury emissions) were on a list to be regulated, rather than taking a health conscious approach in understanding the occupational hazard of mercury emissions.
So where does this leave us?
It seems the EPA, WHO, and NIH are all working in the right direction, but it’s the court system that needs to take all information into account and further instill more stringent policies on the nation’s mercury-free campaign.
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