The largest source of annual air-borne Hg is from natural sources such as volcanoes, forest fires, and oceans. Emissions from Yellowstone National Park, for example, likely exceed that of all Wyoming coal-fired power plants combined. Under current estimates of total annual air-borne sources of Hg into the world cycle, US power plant emissions account for as little as… Read More »
Critical Comments on EPA’s Proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants; and, in the Alternative, Proposed Standards of Performance for New and Existing Utility Steam Generating Units: Notice of Data Availability (as issued in Federal Register, vol. 69, no. 230, December 1, 2004, 69864-69878)
In this companion to our white paper, How Safe Are We From the Fish We Eat?, we offer a scientific analysis and evaluation of another serious public health scare related to fish consumption using the latest peer-reviewed literature: there is emerging evidence that trace amounts of “mercury” in fish could overwhelm the positive effects of Omega-3 fatty acids,… Read More »
Human exposure to mercury (Hg) emitted from utility units is not harmful. To become a potential human health hazard, mercury must undergo a complex chain of bioprocessing and reprocessing (biomethylation) into the compound methylmercury (MeHg), which must be ingested, primarily through fish, in a sufficiently large dose to cause harm.
This paper focuses on currently wide-spread and growing State fish consumption advisories. State notices are attributed to health concerns about “contaminants” such as traces of fish methylmercury (MeHg) in a wide range of aquatic systems including lakes, rivers, watershed basins and coastal zones. State issued advisories are in addition to – and sometimes conflict with – federal advisories.
For the Full Report in PDF Form, please click here. [Illustrations, footnotes and references available in PDF version]