Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 3: The politics of wasteBox 4: MercuryMercury in municipal, industrial and healthcare waste presents an ongoing andincreasing health risk. Mercury, even at low concentrations, has devastating effectson the nervous system. Unborn babies and young children are particularly at risk,and studies have shown decreases in intelligence as a result of mercury exposure.Mercury also attacks the kidneys, liver and lungs and has been linked to harmfuleffects on the cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. The ‘safe’ level formercury exposure has consistently fallen over the past 30 years, and scientists nowdoubt whether there is any such safe level.The form in which mercury appears determines how easily it is absorbed by thehuman body. Mercury vapour is easily absorbed in the lungs. Methyl mercury bioaccumulatesalong the food chain, and poses a higher risk to fish-eating populations.Some 3,000 people in Minamata, Japan, were found to have been poisoned thisway in 1960 and the poison was passed on to babies who were born with cerebralpalsy, blindness and profound mental retardation. Organic mercury was involvedin an incident in Iraq when hungry people ate seeds treated with mercury-basedfungicides in 1971.Mercury has been used for the extraction of gold and silver for centuries, inelectronics and lights, thermometers and dental fillings. It is used in batteries, aspreservatives in vaccines, in biocides and fungicides for paper, paints and seeds, inantiseptics, and as reactants in chemical laboratories. Many smaller uses of mercuryhave been banned in Europe. Currently the major demand for mercury worldwidecomes from small scale (artisanal) gold mining (30%), vinyl chloride monomermanufacture (20%), chlor alkali works (18%) and batteries (12%), according toKarliner and Harvie [2007].Mercury is also released from volcanoes and by evaporation from soil and water. Thesenatural emissions also liberate mercury previously released into the environmentby industry. Because mercury is a trace element in coal, it is emitted by coal firedpower plants. Stationary combustion (with coal fired power stations the mainsource) contributed 67% to global man-made mercury emissions in 2000. Theother sources were: gold production (10%), non-ferrous metal production (7%),cement production (5%), waste disposal (5%), caustic soda production (3%), andsteel production, mercury production and other (all at 1%), according to Pacynaet al [2006].Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 39 -