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Mercury Toxicity and Fish Consumption Advisories
Mercury is a toxic metal
that persists in the body and causes unhealthy effects on the brain and the central
nervous system. Its effects are particularly harmful to children and women of
child-bearing age. Mercury occurs naturally in the environment (mined as cinnabar ore),
but it is man’s activities which cause it to be released in harmful concentrations. Once mercury is released
into the environment, it accumulates in the food chain. The higher up you go in the food
chain, the greater the concentration of mercury present in the organism. This phenomenon
is known as bioaccumulation and is readily identified in fish. Several species of fish
caught in Florida waters contain levels of mercury so high they should be eaten only
once a week, and some fish high on the food chain should never be eaten (see charts).
The burning of municipal
and medical waste are big contributors to mercury emissions, but the single largest
source is the burning of coal at electric utilities. Power plants are the largest
remaining source of human-generated mercury emissions in the U.S.; therefore, reducing
mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants is the next step in our pursuit of
cleaner air.
As a result of the upcoming
promulgation of the Clean Air Mercury Rule, Florida should see a decrease of 50 percent
in mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2018. In fact, through other
regulatory initiatives in our county, over the past ten years, mercury emissions from
the largest industrial facilities have been reduced by more than 90 percent. Federal
programs implemented locally by the EPC, have resulted in a significant cleanup of these
sources. These reductions were achieved by scrubbing the mercury from the stack exhaust
and switching to cleaner fuels. Even further reductions are expected over the next few
years, with the help of the new EPA rules. |
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