Mercury in the environment: A volatile problem

Environment

Volumn 44, Issue 9, 2002, Pages 24-40

  Lutter, Randall ^a   Irwin, Elisabeth ^b  

^a AEI Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies   (United States)

^b Reg Markets Center   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL; MERCURY;

ARTICLE; CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; MERCURIALISM; POLLUTANT;

EID: 0036839435     PISSN: 00139157     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2002.10543561     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. National Research Council (NRC), Committee on the Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, Toxicological Effects of MeHg (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000).
2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Mercury Update: Impact on Fish Advisories," EPA-823-F-01-011 (Washington, D.C.: EPA Office of Water, 2001), available at http://www.epa.gov/ost/fishadvice/mercupd.pdf.
3. NRC, note 1 above, page 11. This report concluded that EPA's reference dose for methylmercury (0.1 microgram per kilogram body weight per day), which is more stringent than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) action level of I part per million (ppm), is "a scientifically justifiable level for the protection of public health:" Publication of the report generated scrutiny of the FDA standard. See L. Neergaard, "FDA Says Mercury in Some Fish Could Harm Babies' Brains," Detroit News, 13 January 2001, available at http://detnews.com/2001/health/0101/13/health-175462.htm.
4. See EPA, "Regulatory Finding on the Emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants from Electric Utility Steam Generating Units," Federal Register 65, no. 245 (20 December 2000): 79,825-31.
5. EPA must issue a final rule by December 2004 (EPA, note 2 above). See also EPA, "Fact Sheet: Clear Skies Initiative," at http://www.epa.gov/clearskies/clearskiesfactsheet_3_26.pdf, accessed 19 August 2002.
6. See The White House, Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 30 September 1993, which is still used by the Bush administration.
7. EPA, Mercury Study Report to Congress, EPA-452/R-97-003 (Washington, D.C., 1997), vol. 1, p. 2-1. This report (volumes 1-8) is accessible via http://www.epa.gov/oar/mercury.html.
8. EPA and Environment Canada, "Draft Report: Mercury Sources and Regulations" (Washington, D.C.: EPA, 1999), available at http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/bns/mercury/stephg.html.
9. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 0-1.
10. I b i d.
11. Ibid., vol. 2, page ES-2; and L. Poissant, M. Amyot, M. Pilote, and D. Lean, "Mercury Water-Air Exchange over the Upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario," Environmental Science & Technology 34 (2000): 3,069-78.
12. Ibid., vol. 2, page ES-2; and L. Poissant, M. Amyot, M. Pilote, and D. Lean, "Mercury Water-Air Exchange over the Upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario," Environmental Science & Technology 34 (2000): 3,069-78.
13. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 2, Table ES-3.
14. EPA, "Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators: Final Rule" Federal Register 62, no. 178 (15 September 1997); and EPA, "Large Municipal Waste Combustion Units: Emission Guidelines: Final Rule," Federal Register 62, no. 164 (25 August 1997).
15. EPA, "Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators: Final Rule" Federal Register 62, no. 178 (15 September 1997); and EPA, "Large Municipal Waste Combustion Units: Emission Guidelines: Final Rule," Federal Register 62, no. 164 (25 August 1997).
16. Potential mercury reductions from these regulations are taken from EPA, Deposition of air Pollutants to the Great Waters Third Report to Congress 2000 (Washington, D.C., 2000): Table III-2.
17. C. N. Alpers and M. P. Hunerlach, "Mercury Contamination from Historic Gold Mining in California," U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fact Sheet FS-061-00, accessed via http://water.wr.usgs.gov/mercury/fs06100.html on 23 July 2002. See also M. P. Hunerlach, J. J. Rytuba, and C. N. Alpers, "Mercury Contamination from Hydraulic Placer-Gold Mining in the Durch Flat Mining District," USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018B (1999): 179-89.
18. C. N. Alpers and M. P. Hunerlach, "Mercury Contamination from Historic Gold Mining in California," U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fact Sheet FS-061-00, accessed via http://water.wr.usgs.gov/mercury/fs06100.html on 23 July 2002. See also M. P. Hunerlach, J. J. Rytuba, and C. N. Alpers, "Mercury Contamination from Hydraulic Placer-Gold Mining in the Durch Flat Mining District," USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018B (1999): 179-89.
19. I b i d.
20. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 2-13.
21. Ibid., page 2-5.
22. I b i d.
23. R. P. Mason, J. R. Reinfelder, and F. M. Morel, "Uptake, Toxicity, and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Coastal Diatom" Environmental Science & Technology 30, no. 6 (1996): 1,835.
24. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 3-18.
25. S. Qian, W. Warren-Hicks, J. Keating, D. R. J. Moore, and R. S. Teed, "A Predictive Model of Mercury Fish Tissue Concentrations for the Southeastern United States:" Environmental Science & Technology 35, no. 5 (2001): 941-47.
26. C. T. Zaneski, "Toxin Taking Toll on Wildlife in the Everglades," Miami Herald, 22 August 1999, 1A.
27. USGS, "Mercury in the Geochemical Cycle and Food Chain of the Everglades," Mercury Studies in the Florida Everglades (1999): 1, accessed via http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/fs/166-96/printfood.html on 23 July 2002. See also S. Ullrich, T. W. Tanton, and S. A. Abdrashitova, "Mercury in the Aquatic Environment: A Review of Factors Affecting Methylation," Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 31, no. 3 (2001):241-93.
28. USGS, "Mercury in the Geochemical Cycle and Food Chain of the Everglades," Mercury Studies in the Florida Everglades (1999): 1, accessed via http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/fs/166-96/printfood.html on 23 July 2002. See also S. Ullrich, T. W. Tanton, and S. A. Abdrashitova, "Mercury in the Aquatic Environment: A Review of Factors Affecting Methylation," Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 31, no. 3 (2001):241-93.
29. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 3-18.
30. USGS, note 24 above.
31. EPA, The National Survey of Mercury Concentrations in Fish: Data Base Summary 1990-1995, EPA-823-R-99-014 (Washington, D.C., 1999): page 4-7.
32. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 3, page ES-6.
33. See, for example, ibid., page 2-6.
34. EPA, note 14 above, page 2-15.
35. EPA, note 27 above, page 1-1.
36. EPA, note 27 above.
37. EPA, "Water Quality Criteria: Notice of Availability of Water Quality Criterion for the Protection of Human Health: Methylmercury," Federal Register 66, no. 5 (8 January 2001): 1,344.
38. EPA, note 7 above.
39. Ibid., vol. 1, page 2-4.
40. M. S. Landis, "Assessing the Atmospheric Deposition of Mercury to Lake Michigan: The Importance of the Chicago/Gary Urban Area on Wet and Dry Deposition" (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1998).
41. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Air Resources Laboratory, "Mercury Deposition Network" (NRSP-3), National Atmospheric Deposition Program web site (2000), accessed via http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/mdn/ on 23 July 2002.
42. EPA, note 7 above, vols. 2 and 3, page 4-2.
43. Ibid., vol. 3, page 2-13.
44. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA; EPA; National Energy Technology Laboratory, Department of Energy (DOE); National Marine Fisheries Laboratory, NOAA; and National Center for Health Statistics, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "Blood and Hair Mercury Levels in Young Children and Women of Childbearing Age - United States, 1999," Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report 50, no. 8 (2001): 140-43.
45. NRC, note 1 above, page 324.
46. FDA, EPA, DOE, NOAA, and CDC, note 40 above, page 140.
47. K. Crump et al., "Benchmark Concentrations for MeHg Obtained from the Seychelles Child Development Study," Environmental Health Perspectives 108, no. 3 (2000): 257-63; G. Myers et al., "Secondary Analysis from the Seychelles Child Development Study: The Child Behavior Checklist," Environmental Research 84, no. 1 (2000): 12-19; and C. Axtell et al., "Association between MeHg Exposure from Fish Consumption and Child Development at Five and a Half Years of Age in the Seychelles Child Development Study: An Evaluation of Nonlinear Relationships," Environmental Research 84, no. 2 (2000): 71-80.
48. K. Crump et al., "Benchmark Concentrations for MeHg Obtained from the Seychelles Child Development Study," Environmental Health Perspectives 108, no. 3 (2000): 257-63; G. Myers et al., "Secondary Analysis from the Seychelles Child Development Study: The Child Behavior Checklist," Environmental Research 84, no. 1 (2000): 12-19; and C. Axtell et al., "Association between MeHg Exposure from Fish Consumption and Child Development at Five and a Half Years of Age in the Seychelles Child Development Study: An Evaluation of Nonlinear Relationships," Environmental Research 84, no. 2 (2000): 71-80.
49. K. Crump et al., "Benchmark Concentrations for MeHg Obtained from the Seychelles Child Development Study," Environmental Health Perspectives 108, no. 3 (2000): 257-63; G. Myers et al., "Secondary Analysis from the Seychelles Child Development Study: The Child Behavior Checklist," Environmental Research 84, no. 1 (2000): 12-19; and C. Axtell et al., "Association between MeHg Exposure from Fish Consumption and Child Development at Five and a Half Years of Age in the Seychelles Child Development Study: An Evaluation of Nonlinear Relationships," Environmental Research 84, no. 2 (2000): 71-80.
50. P. Grandjean et al., "Cognitive Deficit in SevenYear-Old Children with Prenatal Exposure to MeHg," Neurotoxicology and Teratology 19, no. 6 (1997): 417-28.
51. K. Crump, T. Kjellstrom, A. Shipp, A. Silvers, and A. Stewart, "Influence of Prenatal Mercury Exposure upon Scholastic and Psychological Test Performance: Benchmark Analysis of a New Zealand Cohort," Risk Analysis 18, no. 6 (1998): 701-13.
52. NRC, note I above, page 6.
53. Ibid., page 325. A letter from Professor Robert A. Goyer, who chaired the NRC Committee on the Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury, to Joseph A. Levitt, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of FDA, more fully explains the meaning of the NRC statement (R. A. Goyer, letter to J. A. Levitt, Washington D.C., 2000).
54. Goyer, ibid.
55. Ibid. The reference dose is defined as "an estimate of a daily exposure to the human population (including sensitive subpopulations) that is likely to be without a risk of adverse effects when experienced over a lifetime" (NRC, note I above, page 2).
56. Goyer, note 47 above.
57. J. Smith, R. Von Burg, and P. Allen. "Hair MeHg Levels in U.S. Women," Archives of Environmental Health 52, no. 6 (1997): 476-80. See Table 1.
58. U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA, note above, Table 91.
59. Crump, Kjellstrom, Shipp, Silvers, and Stewart, note 45 above.
60. P. Grandjean et al., "MeHg Exposure Biomarkers as Indicators of Neurotoxicity in Children Aged Seven Years," American Journal of Epidemiology 150, no. 3 (1999): 301-05. This study reports the estimated declines in various performance tests such as fingertapping speed for a doubling of mercury concentrations. This information is used here to calculate improvements in health for the specified reduction in mercury exposure.
61. J. Salonen et al., "Intake of Mercury from Fish, Lipid Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary, Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men," Circulation 91, no. 3 (1995): Table 4.
62. Salonen et al. derive this estimate in a model that controls for age, ischemic exercise electrocardiogram, family history of coronary heart disease, cigarette-years, mean systolic blood pressure, socioeconomic status, and place of residence (urban vs. rural), among other factors (ibid.).
63. Some of these concerns first appeared in a review commissioned by NRC. See W. Rosamond and C. Poole, "A Critique of Salonen et al. 'Intake of Mercury from Fish, Lipid Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary, Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men," prepared for NRC Committee on the Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury, Washington, D.C. (undated).
64. E. Guallar et al., "Mercury Levels in Toenails and Risk of Myocardial Infarction: Interim Results of an International Case-Control Study" (paper presented at the Seventh Nordic Symposium on Trace Elements in Human Health and Disease, Espoo, Finland, June 1999). This study published interim results from an international case-control study that appears to support the findings of Salonen et al. See also N. Sorensen, K. Murata, E. Budtz-Jørgensen, P. Weihe, and P. Grandjean, "Prenatal MeHg Exposure as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor at Seven Years of Age," Epidemiology 10, no. 4 (1999): 370-75; and J. Salonen, K. Seppanen, R. Salonen, and G. A. Kaplan, "Mercury Accumulation and Accelerated Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis: A Population-Based Prospective Four-Year FollowUp Study in Men in Eastern Finland," Atherosclerosis 148, no. 2 (2000): 265-73. The Sorensen study reports an association between mercury in matemal hair and blood pressure in seven-year-old children but do not address the clinical significance and permanence of this effect - or the nature of the relationship at relatively low doses (for example, I ppm to 5 ppm). The Salonen study reports an association between mercury accumulation and accelerated progression of carotid atherosclerosis among Finnish men. Although they report statistically significant associations between mercury hair content and atherosclerosis, they fail to assess the proportion of mercury that is methylmercury and therefore attributable to fish consumption.
65. E. Guallar et al., "Mercury Levels in Toenails and Risk of Myocardial Infarction: Interim Results of an International Case-Control Study" (paper presented at the Seventh Nordic Symposium on Trace Elements in Human Health and Disease, Espoo, Finland, June 1999). This study published interim results from an international case-control study that appears to support the findings of Salonen et al. See also N. Sorensen, K. Murata, E. Budtz-Jørgensen, P. Weihe, and P. Grandjean, "Prenatal MeHg Exposure as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor at Seven Years of Age," Epidemiology 10, no. 4 (1999): 370-75; and J. Salonen, K. Seppanen, R. Salonen, and G. A. Kaplan, "Mercury Accumulation and Accelerated Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis: A Population-Based Prospective Four-Year FollowUp Study in Men in Eastern Finland," Atherosclerosis 148, no. 2 (2000): 265-73. The Sorensen study reports an association between mercury in matemal hair and blood pressure in seven-year-old children but do not address the clinical significance and permanence of this effect - or the nature of the relationship at relatively low doses (for example, I ppm to 5 ppm). The Salonen study reports an association between mercury accumulation and accelerated progression of carotid atherosclerosis among Finnish men. Although they report statistically significant associations between mercury hair content and atherosclerosis, they fail to assess the proportion of mercury that is methylmercury and therefore attributable to fish consumption.
66. E. Guallar et al., "Mercury Levels in Toenails and Risk of Myocardial Infarction: Interim Results of an International Case-Control Study" (paper presented at the Seventh Nordic Symposium on Trace Elements in Human Health and Disease, Espoo, Finland, June 1999). This study published interim results from an international case-control study that appears to support the findings of Salonen et al. See also N. Sorensen, K. Murata, E. Budtz-Jørgensen, P. Weihe, and P. Grandjean, "Prenatal MeHg Exposure as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor at Seven Years of Age," Epidemiology 10, no. 4 (1999): 370-75; and J. Salonen, K. Seppanen, R. Salonen, and G. A. Kaplan, "Mercury Accumulation and Accelerated Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis: A Population-Based Prospective Four-Year FollowUp Study in Men in Eastern Finland," Atherosclerosis 148, no. 2 (2000): 265-73. The Sorensen study reports an association between mercury in matemal hair and blood pressure in seven-year-old children but do not address the clinical significance and permanence of this effect - or the nature of the relationship at relatively low doses (for example, I ppm to 5 ppm). The Salonen study reports an association between mercury accumulation and accelerated progression of carotid atherosclerosis among Finnish men. Although they report statistically significant associations between mercury hair content and atherosclerosis, they fail to assess the proportion of mercury that is methylmercury and therefore attributable to fish consumption.
67. This condition was one of Sir Bradford Hill's (of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) criteria for inferring that epidemiological associations are causal (Rosamond and Poole, note 57 above).
68. See Y. Kinjo et al., "Cancer Mortality in Minamata Disease Patients Exposed to Methylmercury through Fish Diet," Journal of Epidemiology 6, no. 3 (1996): 134-38.
69. A. H. Stern, L. Korn, and B. Ruppel, "Estimation of Fish Consumption and MeHg Intake in the New Jersey Population," Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 6, no. 4 (1996): 503-27; and A. H. Stern, M. Golchfeld, C. Weisel, and J. Burger, "Mercury and MeHg Exposure in the New Jersey Pregnant Population," Archives of Environmental Health 56, no. 1 (2001): 4-10. Note that these articles discuss two different surveys of New Jersey women.
70. A. H. Stern, L. Korn, and B. Ruppel, "Estimation of Fish Consumption and MeHg Intake in the New Jersey Population," Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 6, no. 4 (1996): 503-27; and A. H. Stern, M. Golchfeld, C. Weisel, and J. Burger, "Mercury and MeHg Exposure in the New Jersey Pregnant Population," Archives of Environmental Health 56, no. 1 (2001): 4-10. Note that these articles discuss two different surveys of New Jersey women.
71. Salonen et al., note 55 above, Table 2.
72. J. R. Sauer, J. E. Hines, I. Thomas, J. Fallon, and G. Gough, The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966-1999, Version 98.1 (Laurel, Md.: USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 2000), accessed via http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs99.html.
73. For osprey populations, the survey-wide trend is 6.7 percent, and for double-crested cormorants, the survey-wide trend is 7 percent (ibid.).
74. Sauer, Hines, Thomas, Fallon, and Gough, note 63 above; see trend maps.
75. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 5, page 3-3.
76. "Panthers: 80. Rising," National Geographic Magazine, August 2002.
77. S. Duvall and M. Barron, "A Screening Level Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Mercury in Florida Everglades Food Webs" Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 47 (2000): 298-305.
78. EPA, Mercury White Paper (1997). See http://www.epa.gov/oar/merwhite.html.
79. National Conference of State Legislatures, Environmental Health Legislation Database, accessed via http://www.ncsl.org/programs/ESNR/cehdb.htm on 23 July 2002.
80. Washington State Department of Ecology, "Draft - Washington State Mercury Chemical Action Plan Background Information," Publication No. 02-03-016 (2002), accessed via http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0203016.pdf on 15 May 2002; and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Progress Report to the Minnesota Legislature (2002), accessed via http://www.pca.state. mn.us/hot/legislature/reports/2002/mercury-02.pdf on 15 May 2002.
81. Washington State Department of Ecology, "Draft - Washington State Mercury Chemical Action Plan Background Information," Publication No. 02-03-016 (2002), accessed via http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0203016.pdf on 15 May 2002; and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Progress Report to the Minnesota Legislature (2002), accessed via http://www.pca.state. mn.us/hot/legislature/reports/2002/mercury-02.pdf on 15 May 2002.
82. EPA, note 33 above, page 1,346.
83. EPA, note 27 above, Figure 4-2.
84. S. 556, 107th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record 147 (15 March 2001).
85. The White House, "President Bush Announces Clear Skies and Global Change Initiatives," 14 February 2002, accessible via http://www.epa.gov/clearskies/clear_skies_factsheet.pdf.
86. ICF Consulting, "Mercury Control Cost Calculations: Assumptions, Approach, and Results, EPA Contract No. 68-D7-0081, Task 011, Subtask 02" (30 September 2000). These are 1999 dollars.
87. Ibid, pages 8-9.
88. An EPA memo suggests that current controls may eliminate 43 percent of generated mercury emissions (F. Princiotta, "Control of Mercury Emissions from CoalFired Utility Boilers," memo from the director of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division to John Seitz, director of the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (MD-10), EPA, 25 October 2000, 6).
89. EPA, note 4 above, page 79,828.
90. I b i d.
91. See the comments of Peter Tsirigotis of EPA on 19 February 2002 at the AEI-Brookings Joint Center conference "Regulating Air Pollutants from Power Plants: What is Sensible?"
92. This upper-bound estimate of compliance costs of the mercury cap for the Clear Skies proposal is derived by conservatively assuming that EPA's estimate of the marginal cost is also the average cost, which the agency did not report. Multiplying the 30-metric ton (t) reduction in mercury emissions (from 43 t to 13 t) by the permit price estimate for the 13-t cap in 2018 ($14,460 per pound) gives $972 million. See EPA, "Clear Skies Initiative," Regional Summary Report (2002), accessed via the Clean Air Markets - Programs and Regulations page at http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/epa-ipm/results.html#downloadresults on 23 July 2002 (download ipm2000s 153d_c).
93. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 3-14.
94. J. A. Sorensen, G. E. Glass, K. W. Schmidt, J. K. Huber, and G. R. Rapp Jr., "Airborne Mercury Deposition and Watershed Characteristics in Relation to Mercury Concentrations in Water, Sediments, Plankton, and Fish of Eighty Northern Minnesota Lakes." Environmental Science & Technology 24, no. 11 (1990): 1,716-27; R. P. Mason, J. R. Reinfelder, and F. M. Morel, "Uptake, Toxicity, and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Coastal Diatom," Environmental Science & Technology 30 (1996): 6; and EPA, note 7 above. Sorenson provides an early and interesting article; Mason and EPA provide summaries. See also R. Renner, "Newly Deposited Mercury May Be More Bioavailable," Environmental Science & Technology 36, no. 11 (2002): 226A-27A. EPA has found only a "plausible link" between mercury deposition and concentrations in fish. See EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 0-2; and W. Fitzgerald, D. Engstrom, R. Mason, and E. Nater, "The Case for Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas," Environmental Science & Technology 32, no. 1 (1997): 1-7.
95. J. A. Sorensen, G. E. Glass, K. W. Schmidt, J. K. Huber, and G. R. Rapp Jr., "Airborne Mercury Deposition and Watershed Characteristics in Relation to Mercury Concentrations in Water, Sediments, Plankton, and Fish of Eighty Northern Minnesota Lakes." Environmental Science & Technology 24, no. 11 (1990): 1,716-27; R. P. Mason, J. R. Reinfelder, and F. M. Morel, "Uptake, Toxicity, and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Coastal Diatom," Environmental Science & Technology 30 (1996): 6; and EPA, note 7 above. Sorenson provides an early and interesting article; Mason and EPA provide summaries. See also R. Renner, "Newly Deposited Mercury May Be More Bioavailable," Environmental Science & Technology 36, no. 11 (2002): 226A-27A. EPA has found only a "plausible link" between mercury deposition and concentrations in fish. See EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 0-2; and W. Fitzgerald, D. Engstrom, R. Mason, and E. Nater, "The Case for Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas," Environmental Science & Technology 32, no. 1 (1997): 1-7.
96. J. A. Sorensen, G. E. Glass, K. W. Schmidt, J. K. Huber, and G. R. Rapp Jr., "Airborne Mercury Deposition and Watershed Characteristics in Relation to Mercury Concentrations in Water, Sediments, Plankton, and Fish of Eighty Northern Minnesota Lakes." Environmental Science & Technology 24, no. 11 (1990): 1,716-27; R. P. Mason, J. R. Reinfelder, and F. M. Morel, "Uptake, Toxicity, and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Coastal Diatom," Environmental Science & Technology 30 (1996): 6; and EPA, note 7 above. Sorenson provides an early and interesting article; Mason and EPA provide summaries. See also R. Renner, "Newly Deposited Mercury May Be More Bioavailable," Environmental Science & Technology 36, no. 11 (2002): 226A-27A. EPA has found only a "plausible link" between mercury deposition and concentrations in fish. See EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 0-2; and W. Fitzgerald, D. Engstrom, R. Mason, and E. Nater, "The Case for Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas," Environmental Science & Technology 32, no. 1 (1997): 1-7.
97. J. A. Sorensen, G. E. Glass, K. W. Schmidt, J. K. Huber, and G. R. Rapp Jr., "Airborne Mercury Deposition and Watershed Characteristics in Relation to Mercury Concentrations in Water, Sediments, Plankton, and Fish of Eighty Northern Minnesota Lakes." Environmental Science & Technology 24, no. 11 (1990): 1,716-27; R. P. Mason, J. R. Reinfelder, and F. M. Morel, "Uptake, Toxicity, and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Coastal Diatom," Environmental Science & Technology 30 (1996): 6; and EPA, note 7 above. Sorenson provides an early and interesting article; Mason and EPA provide summaries. See also R. Renner, "Newly Deposited Mercury May Be More Bioavailable," Environmental Science & Technology 36, no. 11 (2002): 226A-27A. EPA has found only a "plausible link" between mercury deposition and concentrations in fish. See EPA, note 7 above, vol. 1, page 0-2; and W. Fitzgerald, D. Engstrom, R. Mason, and E. Nater, "The Case for Atmospheric Mercury Contamination in Remote Areas," Environmental Science & Technology 32, no. 1 (1997): 1-7.
98. W. Brumbaugh, D. Krabbenhoft, D. Helsel, J. Wiener, and K. Echols, "A National Pilot Study of Mercury Contamination of Aquatic Ecosytems along Multiple Gradients: Bioaccumulation in Fish:' Biological Science Report, USGS/BRD/BSR-2001-0009 (USGS, September 2001). See also Qian, Warren-Hicks, Keating, Moore, and Teed, note 22 above.
99. See the Electric Power Research Institute's Mercury Experiment to Assess Atmospheric Loading in Canada and the United States (METAALICUS) project summary at http://www.epri.com/corporate/products_services/project_ opps/environment/1006515.pdf, accessed on 16 August 2002.
100. EPA, note 7 above, vol. 4, page 4-37.
101. Stem, Korn, and Ruppel, note 61 above, page 505.
102. Ibid., page 510. The study indicates that average mercury concentrations were 0.17 ppm for tuna and 0.11 ppm for shrimp.
103. U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries of the United States, 1999 (Silver Spring, Md.: NOAA and U.S. Department of Commerce, 2000). See the NOAA Fisheries and National Marine Fisheries Service web site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov. This percentage is calculated as the total catch within 200 miles of New England and the southern Atlantic states divided by the sum of all landed shrimp and net imports.
104. The authors' calculations used data from the Grandjean and Crump studies.
105. EPA, "Human Health and Environmental Effects of the Clear Skies Initiative," report prepared for the EPA Clear Skies Workshop, 19 June 2002.