AIR POLLUTION: Mercury emissions rose in 2008 at 27 major U.S. power p
By Linda on Jul 2, 2010 in Toxins
Excerpt:
More than half of the United States’ top mercury-emitting power plants increased releases of the toxic metal in 2008, according to a report issued today by an environmental group.
The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) study shows mercury emissions rising in 2008 at 27 of the nation’s top 50 polluting plants.
Overall, electric utilities’ mercury emissions dropped 4.7 percent from 2007 to 2008 — the last year for which data is available — while gross power generation declined by about 2 percent, the report says. Emissions of the toxic pollutant from the top 50 plants combined fell slightly over that period by about 0.26 percent.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can accumulate in lakes and rivers, contaminating aquatic life. Exposure to mercury can interfere with brain function and can lead to birth defects and other developmental problems.
Power plants are the single largest U.S. source of mercury air pollution, the report says, producing more than 40 percent of all human-caused mercury emissions nationwide.
