Dec 19, 2011
For the first time, the chemical “fingerprints” of the element mercury have been used by University of Michigan researchers to directly link environmental pollution to a specific coal-burning power plant.
The primary source of mercury pollution in the atmosphere is coal combustion. The U-M mercury-fingerprinting technique – which has been under development for a decade – provides a tool that will enable researchers to identify specific sources of mercury pollution and determine how much of it is being deposited locally.
“We see a specific, distinct signature to the mercury that’s downwind of the power plant, and we can clearly conclude that mercury from that power plant is being deposited locally,” said Joel Blum, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Blum is co-author of a paper published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The lead author of the paper is U-M doctoral candidate Laura Sherman, who works with Blum.
“This allows us to directly fingerprint and track the mercury that’s coming from a power plant, going into a local lake, and potentially impacting the fish that people are eating,” said Sherman, who has worked on the project for four years.
Mercury is a naturally occurring element, but some 2,000 tons are emitted to the atmosphere each year from human-generated sources such as incinerators, chlorine-producing plants and coal-fired power plants.
This mercury is deposited onto land and into water, where microorganisms convert some of it to methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish and the animals that eat them. In wildlife, exposure to methylmercury can interfere with reproduction, growth, development and behavior—and may even cause death.
Read the complete article and Environmental Protection OnLine
