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Cheyanne Strong

Basic Information about Mercury (inorganic) in Drinking Water | Basic Information about... - 3 views

water.epa.gov/...mercury.cfm

mercury drinking water

shared by Cheyanne Strong on 23 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • What is mercury?
  • What is mercury?
  • rcury
  • ...75 more annotations...
  • What is mercury
  • What is mercury?
  • What is mercury?
  • What is
  • What is
  • Uses for mercury.
  • Uses for mercury
  • Mercury is a liquid
  • metal
  • Mercury is a liqu
  • Electrical products such as dry-cell batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, switches, and other control equipment
  • 50 percent of mercury used
  • What are mercury's health effects?
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • well in exce
  • mercury well in excess
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • experience kidney damage
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury
    • Cheyanne Strong
      Cheyanne Strong on 23 Nov 11
       
      Hey what i was goin to highlight wasw the first paragraph but it wouldnt let me so i decided instead to just tell yal on dis sticky note
  • What are EPA's drinking water regulations for mercury
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • Some people who drink water containing mercury well in excess
  • In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act
  • law requires EPA to determine
  • Some people who drink
  • could experience kidney damage
  • years could experience
  • many years could
  • many years could
  • contaminants
  • drinking water
  • drinking water at which no adverse health effects
  • likely to occur
  • non-enforceable health goals, based solely
  • possible health risks
  • exposure over a lifetime
  • adequate margin
  • safety
  • called maximum
  • contaminant level goals
  • Contaminants
  • Contaminants
  • Contaminant
  • Contaminants
  • any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substances or matter in water.
  • ontamina
  • (MCLG). Contaminants
  • The MCLG for mercury is 0.002 mg/L or 2 ppb
  • EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science
  • prevent potential health problems
  • EPA has set an enforceable regulation for mercury
  • called a maximum contaminant level (MCL),
  • MCLs are set as close to the health goals as possible
  • considering cost
  • benefits
  • the ability of public water systems
  • detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment technologies
  • this case, the MCL equals the MCLG, because analytical methods or treatment technology do not pose any limitation
  • The Phase II Rule, the regulation for mercury, became effective in 1992
  • The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to periodically review the national primary drinking water regulation for each contaminant and revise the regulation, if appropriate. EPA reviewed mercury as part of the Six Year Review and determined that the 0.002 mg/L or 2 ppb MCLG and 0.002 mg/L or 2 ppb MCL for mercury are still protective of human health.
  • major sources
  • erosion of natural deposits
  • discharge from refineries
  • discharge from refineries and factories
  • discharge from refineries and factories
  • discharge from refineries and factories
  • discharge from refineries and factories; runoff from landfills; and runoff from croplands.
  • i  ndustries
  • i  ndustries, which manufacture, process, or use significant amounts of toxic chemicals, to report annually on their
  • i  ndustries, which manufacture, process, or use significant amounts of toxic chemicals, to report annually on their
Hannah Smith

Neuroscience for Kids - Effects of Mercury on the Nervous System - 4 views

faculty.washington.edu/...merc.html

cfl

shared by Hannah Smith on 07 Dec 11 - Cached
  • Elemental (metallic) mercury: shiny, silver, odorless liquid used in thermometers. It is absorbed by the body through vapors. Organic mercury: mercury combined with carbon. Methyl mercury is a common form of organic mercury. These forms of mercury are soluble in lipids and cross the blood brain barrier and placenta easily. Organic mercury is absorbed through the digestive tract and also through vapors.
  • Mercury is a natural material found in the earth. Some mercury vapors are given off during volcanic eruptions. Mercury is a by-product of coal-burning power plants. Mercury is released into the air, then it falls back to the earth. Mercury is used by mining operations to separate gold from impurities in ore. Mercury is used during the manufacture of various products. For example, before 1990, mercury was added to paint.
  • Breathe mercury fumes
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Eat food (especially fish) or drink water that has been contaminated by mercury
  • Absorb mercury through the skin. Glass thermometers contain mercury that should be cleaned up properly
  • Eat objects that contain mercury. For example, small children may eat batteries that contain mercury. Broken high power lights and long fluorescent tubes can also contain mercury. Small amounts of mercury from these sources may be ingested accidentally.
  • Minamata Bay (Japan): Organic mercury was dumped into Minamata Bay in the 1950s. Fish in the bay were contaminated and about 2,000 people who ate these fish became poisoned. About 7% of the children born to mothers who ate contaminated fish had neurological problems. Symptoms in these children included uncoordinated movement, abnormal reflexes, seizures and speech problems. Some adults also had neurological problems such as visual disorders, shaking (tremors), weakness, nausea, hearing loss, depression, confusion, loss of appetite and memory problems. A total of 46 people died as a result of mercury exposure.
  • Iraq: In 1972, approximately 6,500 people fell ill and 459 people died after eating bread baked with wheat contaminated with a mercury-based fungicide.
  • Faroe Islands (North Atlantic): A study started in 1984 investigated the effects of methyl mercury exposure on children born to mothers who ate contaminated whale meat. Researchers found that children (seven years old) who were born to mothers with a 10-20 ppm mercury count had lower language, attention and memory scores than those children born to mothers with lower mercury levels. Interestingly, a study performed in the Seychelles Islands (Indian Ocean) did not reveal any effects on children born to mothers who had mercury hair levels of 10 ppm.
  • Take off any jewelry so you don't contaminate it. Scoop up the mercury with a sheet of cardboard. Place the mercury in a small bottle or vial. Cap the bottle or vial. Dispose of the bottle or vial properly. Many communities have special hazardous waste disposals or pick-up locations. Wash your hands! NEVER use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury spills. A vacuum cleaner will get contaminated and will spread mercury vapors into the air.
Emily Locklear

Shining a light on fluorescent bulbs - US news - Environment - msnbc.com - 0 views

www.msnbc.msn.com/...ight-hazards-fluorescent-bulbs

cfl

shared by Emily Locklear on 02 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Compact fluorescent light bulbs, long touted by environmentalists as a more efficient and longer-lasting alternative to the incandescent bulbs that have lighted homes for more than a century, are running into resistance from waste industry officials and some environmental scientists, who warn that the bulbs’ poisonous innards pose a bigger threat to health and the environment than previously thought.
  • Fluorescents — the squiggly, coiled bulbs that generate light by heating gases in a glass tube — are generally considered to use more than 50 percent less energy and to last several times longer than incandescent bulbs
  • contaminate up to 6,000 gallons of water beyond safe drinking levels, extrapolated from Stanford University research on mercury. Even the latest lamps promoted as “low-mercury” can contaminate more than 1,000 gallons of water beyond safe levels.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • When Bridges began calling around to local government agencies to find out what to do, “I was shocked to see how uninformed literally everyone I spoke to was,” she said. “Even our own poison control operator didn’t know what to tell me
  • It was just a wiggly bulb that I reached up to change,” Bridges said. “When the bulb hit the floor, it shattered.”
  • Manufacturers and the EPA say broken CFLs should be handled carefully and recycled to limit dangerous vapors and the spread of mercury dust. But guidelines for how to do that can be difficult to find, as Brandy Bridges
  • of Ellsworth, Maine, discovered
  • The state eventually referred her to a private cleanup firm, which quoted a $2,000 estimate to contain the mercury. After Bridges complained publicly about her predicament, state officials changed their recommendation: Simply throw it in the trash, they said
  • Break a bulb? Five steps for cleanup That was the wrong answer, according to the EPA. It offers a detailed, 11-step procedure you should follow: Air out the room for a quarter of an hour. Wear gloves. Double-bag the refuse. Use duct tape to lift the residue from a carpet. Don’t use a vacuum cleaner, as that will only spread the problem. The next time you vacuum the area, immediately dispose of the vacuum bag.
  • In general, however, the EPA endorses the use of fluorescent bulbs, citing their energy savings. Silbergeld also does not discourage their use because of their energy savings, but she said the EPA could be sending mixed signals to confused consumers.
  • “It’s kind of ironic that on the one hand, the agency is saying, ‘Don’t worry, it’s a very small amount of mercury.’ Then they have a whole page of [instructions] how to handle the situation if you break one,” she
  • “I think there’s going to be hundreds of millions of [CFLs] in landfills all over the country,” said Leonard Worth, head of Fluorecycle Inc. of Ingleside, Ill., a certified facility. Once in a landfill, bulbs are likely to shatter even if they’re packaged properly, said the Solid Waste Association of North America. From there, mercury can leach into soil and groundwater and its vapors can spread through the air, potentially exposing workers to toxic levels of the poison.
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