At a time when U.S. sources of mercury into the Great Lakes are dropping, the volume of the same pollutant coming from China is on the rise, experts say. China is second, to the U.S., in terms of contributing mercury into the Great Lakes basin, according to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
‘Mercury is known to be a pollutant capable of long-range atmospheric transport and it is not surprising that some of the mercury emitted in China and elsewhere around the world ends up in the Great Lakes,’ says Mark Cohen, a physical scientist at the federal agency.
Mercury can affect human health by harming the central nervous system, brain, heart, lungs and immune system. Young children and developing fetuses are most sensitive to mercury that can harm their ability to fully function later in life.
It is mostly emitted by coal-fired power plants, gold mining and natural emissions. Mercury-related health advisors around the Great Lakes limit how much of certain fish people should eat because they are contaminated by the element.
Scientists discovered that U.S. man-made mercury sources account for 32% of the mercury entering the Great Lakes. Chinese sources deposit nearly half as much, with 14%. These deposits from China mainly come from mining, metalurgy and the burning of coal to produce electricity. The airborne mercury migrates across borders and eventually ends up in the Great Lakes, posing public and wildlife health concerns, Cohen said.
‘Mercury emissions is not a local but a global issue that needs global action,’ Kasten said. ‘Unfortunately for Chinese people, they use a significant amount of coal for industry operation and residential heating that causes problems for them.’
Officials from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are also finding mercury pollution in thier water system from the coal-firing power plants in China. Florida now has warnings in place throughout the state, with 12,994 square miles of marine and fresh water bodies classified as impaired for mercury, along with 2,903 miles of rivers, streams and canals. Unsafe mercury levels are particularly widespread in South Florida, where they cover most of the Everglades, as well as various streams and lakes.
Of all the mercury falling on the United States, 87% comes from outside the country, with 2/3 of the worldwide total coming from Asia, said Jan Mandrup-Poulsen, administrator of the watershed protection section of the department.
‘It really is a national and a global issue,’ said Trina Vielhauer, cheif of the department’s Air Regulation Bureau. ‘We certainly are looking at Florida sources, and we’re expecting folks to do what they can, but global and national sources are important.’
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