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USEPA ORD TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES ON MERCURY RESEARCH
Citation:
Grosse*, D W. AND P M. Randall*. USEPA ORD TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES ON MERCURY RESEARCH. Presented at AWMA 2003 Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, June 22 - 27, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Anthropogenic releases of mercury to air, water and land have adversely impacted human health and the environment for many years. In fact, according to the 1997 Mercury Study Report to Congress, mercury levels have increased significantly (by more than a factor of two) over pre-industrial levels. Since mercury is a natural metallic element, it does not degrade to simpler compounds. Moreover, most of the mercury deposited in soils, plants and animals is in the highly toxic form of methyl mercury. Although much is known about mercury sources and the different pathways of procession to humans and wildlife, more reliable information needs to be gathered to better understand ecological risk assessment and risk management options.
As a result of these uncertainties numerous USEPA Program Offices including: the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substannces (OPPTS), Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), Office of Water (OW), Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and Office of Research and Development (ORD) have made commitments to enhancing government, industry and public awareness of the potential hazards associated with the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) effects of mercury in the environment.
In order for ORD to achieve these goals, a series of five technology transfer workshops were conducted which focused on six primary research areas: (1) transport, transformation and fate, (2) risk management for combustion sources, (3) risk management for non-combustion sources, (4) ecological effects and exposure, (5) human health effects and exposure, and (6) risk communication. Two overall themes governed the proceedings of these workshops: (1) identify state-of-the-science practices and techniques for reducing the use of mercury at its source (scientific, manufacturing and industrial), mitigate and restore adversely impacted ecosystems and long term management of surplus, recycled mercury and mercury-bearing waste and (2) determine what additional research activities need to be conducted to fulfill the goals of the ORD Mercury Research Strategy.