Mercury Study Report to Congress

By Environmental Protection Agency

Book Id: WPLBN0000155596
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 4.47 MB
Reproduction Date: 2007

Title:	Mercury Study Report to Congress
Author:	Environmental Protection Agency
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Ecology, Natural resource issues, Environemtal protection
Collections:	Environmental Awareness Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States Environmental Protection Agency


Citation APA MLA Chicago Protection Agency, B. E. (n.d.). Mercury Study Report to Congress. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.us/

Description
Excerpt: Section 112(n)(1)(B) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended in 1990, requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit a study on atmospheric mercury emissions to Congress. The sources of emissions that must be studied include electric utility steam generating units, municipal waste combustion units and other sources, including area sources. Congress directed that the Mercury Study evaluate many aspects of mercury emissions, including the rate and mass of emissions, health and environmental effects, technologies to control such emissions, and the costs of such controls.

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page U.S. EPA AUTHORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi WORK GROUP AND U.S. EPA/ORD REVIEWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii LIST OF SYMBOLS, UNITS AND ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ES-1 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 1.1 Long Range Atmospheric Transport Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 1.2 Local Atmospheric Transport Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 1.3 Modeling Terrestrial and Aquatic Fate of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 1.4 Exposure Modeling Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6 1.5 Factors Important in Modeling of Mercury Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7 1.6 Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9 2. OVERVIEW OF MERCURY FATE AND TRANSPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 2.1 Mercury in the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 2.1.1 Chemistry of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 2.1.2 The Mercury Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 2.1.2.1 The Global Mercury Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 2.1.2.2 Regional and Local Mercury Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4 2.2 Atmospheric Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6 2.2.1 Emissions of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6 2.2.2 Mercury Transformation and Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7 2.2.3 Deposition of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 2.2.4 Re-emissions of Mercury into the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11 2.3 Terrestrial and Aquatic Fate of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11 2.3.1 Mercury in Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11 2.3.2 Plant and Animal Uptake of Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 2.3.3 Mercury in the Freshwater Ecosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 2.4 Fate of Mercury in Marine Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14 2.4.1 Models of Mercury in the Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15 2.4.2 Modeling Estuaries and Coastal Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16 2.4.3 Mercury Budget for a Coastal Waterbod