Mercury From Gold Production to Be Cut Under New EPA Rule

The article “Mercury from Gold Production to Be Cut Under New EPA Rule” does a great job of explaining how mercury emissions are released from gold mining and why that is dangerous to people. The article explains, “Mercury in lakes and rivers is converted into methyl mercury by bacteria. Fish ingest methyl mercury by swimming or feeding in contaminated water and the chemical accumulates in fish tissue and is concentrated as it is carried up the food chain to larger fish, animals and humans.”  The problem with this is that “The health effects in humans who ingest too much fish containing mercury includes neurological damage and danger to pregnant women and their fetuses, as well as young children.” Mercury stays in someone’s body; it is never processed or released. Eventually, it causes damage to the central nervous system. This problem is especially bad for children who ingest mercury, which causes language problems, poor memory, and other such neurological functions.

The EPA, as reported in the article, proposed new standards for gold mining in the U.S., and it is hoped that these standards will become the basis for other such regulations around the world. The standards being released by the EPA relate to the mercury air emissions by gold mining and other industries, but would be a great tool to reduce mercury in gold mining, which is the sixth largest source of mercury emissions in just the United States. The new standards would decrease the amount of emissions by 73 percent, something that would go a long way in protecting our children from the dangers of mercury emissions.

For more information, read the full article at
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2010/2010-04-18-092.html.

Posted by Abdullah Alruwaished