Mercury Pollution and Its Solutions
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Mercury has been found to be one of the most toxic substances in our environment today, and yet little has been done to stop its contamination of our air and water. Some sources advocate ôretiringö mercury, i.e., making it illegal to sell mercury. Since pollution of our air and water contaminates our food supply as well, it is also argued that we need to stop selling fish captured from the open sea and sell only fish that have been cultured in protected areas. A third idea for mercury reduction is to penalize all manufacturers whose processes release mercury into the environment; they would be given 12 months in which to change their processes or risk being shut down. Finally, some have suggested legislation to prevent mercury pollution by criminalizing improper mercury disposal.Mercury pollution takes place in a multitude of ways. ôPollutionö is defined as ôcontamination of the air by noxious gases and minute particles of solid and liquid matter (particulates) in concentrations that endanger healthö (1). Therefore, mercury pollution of the air occurs when mercury gas or minute particles of mercury enter the air in sufficient quantities to endanger health. Similarly, ôwater pollutionö is defined as ôthe addition of harmful chemicals to natural waterö (1), so when mercury is added to natural water in streams, lakes, and oceans, mercury pollution has occurred. The idea of retiring mercury has gained many advocates in recent years. M
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cury. Furthermore, fish oils are extremely important to maintaining good health and protecting the body from the very mercury that avoiding them is supposed to accomplish. ôIronically, fish oil contains essential fatty acids that are crucial for proper brain function -- deficiencies of omega-3 fatty acids have been linked with ADHD.á Yet, in a catch-22, an increase in fish consumption may lead to brain damage from mercury poisoningö (5). A more judicious approach than taking all open-water fish off the marketùwhich, incidentally, would cause financial devastation of the communities where fishing is the primary source of supportùis to advise people to limit the amount of fish they eat and restrict their diet to the types of fish that contain the least mercury. The U.S. Federal Government is already doing this. It came out with an advisory in spring of 2004 recommending that people eat no more than 6 ounces of tuna per week. The Consumer Reports recommends no more than 3 ounces, which is even more conservative. Children and pregnant women are advised to eat no Albacore tuna at all since it has higher levels of mercury than other types of tuna (5). The concentrations of mercury vary greatly by species, and the oilier fishes r
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Approximate Word count = 2862
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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