What Mercury Problem?

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-mercury14feb14.story
EDITORIAL
What Mercury Problem?

February 14, 2005

Later this month, Europe and other industrialized regions will grapple with the problem of mercury pollution. The United States, apparently, will continue to pretend it doesn't exist.

Like greenhouse gases, mercury is a global rather than local problem. The metal, a liquid at room temperature, vaporizes easily, traveling the world's air currents and settling into waterways, where it has become so common in ocean fish that pregnant women and young children, the most vulnerable, are warned to severely limit their consumption of seafood, and everyone is told not to eat too much swordfish and other predator fish. In humans, it turns into highly toxic methyl mercury, which can cause memory lapses and increase the risk of heart attacks.

In advance of a United Nations meeting on mercury pollution in Nairobi that opens Feb. 21, the European Union is vowing to close its one mercury mine, in Almaden, Spain, by far the biggest in the world, and store existing mercury rather than sell it on the global market. The EU also is open to a global treaty.

Documents submitted by the U.S. government, meanwhile, present no specific goals or steps, reject the idea of a treaty, call vaguely for voluntary partnerships, and offer to teach others about "best practices." That's a curious phrase coming from the nation just criticized by its own Environmental Protection Agency inspector general for violating scientific procedures in order to come up with an industry-friendly regulation of coal plants, probably the biggest source of mercury emissions in this country.

Coal isn't the only concern. Mercury also is used to produce chlorine, and the 11 plants in the United States that still use such a process cannot account for about 65 tons of mercury a year that simply vanishes. That's on top of the 14 tons the plants emit through smokestacks and leakage. Europe has chlorine plants, but it has much stronger regulations on mercury emissions.

Mercury is plentiful and cheap, making its continued use tempting even though technology has rendered it unnecessary for most purposes. More-advanced chlorine plants don't use it. The United States and Europe already have banned batteries containing mercury, once a common component.<snip>

[UL_Approved]

1. It is crap politics, like all other pollution

"But we will lose revenue". Sob, sob...

Just no end to the greed.

If good science and engineering allow us to get past dirty and dangerous industry practice, then we should advance. Anything else is just unrestricted greed.

[papau]

2. I wonder why truth must be in an editorial - rather than in a news story?

:toast:

:-)

[ladjf]

3. Perhaps the mercury is making Americans dumb. Something

is. It was lead that dumbed down the Romans. If not mercury, maybe some other hazardous material. I know that sounds "far out". But, how can you explain what appear to be a mass "dumb down" in America?

For instance, I live in Atlanta, a hotbed of Bush lovers. Yet, all over the local newspapers of late is the story about what a financial disaster the budge will be on the Aviation and farming industries in Georgia. Just a few months back these thousands of Georgians were so happy about voting for Bush. Well, at least they can feel like they stood up against those who wanted gay people to have more civil rights and that perhaps within 15 years there will be a ban on all abortions. (by then it won't matter, due to advancements in contraception which they won't be able to control)

How long before these formerly happy folks will be scraping the "W" stickers off of their cars? Or, will they blame the financial disaster on someone else?