EPA Roadmap for Mercury - i



# T ABLE OF C ONTENT S

EP A ’ S ROADMAP FOR MERCUR Y

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES i i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 INTRODUCTION 1 5 I

. ADDRESSING MERCURY RELEASES 2 1 I I

. ADDRESSING MERCURY USES IN PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES 3 5 III. M A N A G I N G C OMMODIT Y -GR ADE MER CUR Y SUPPLIES 4 3 IV

. COMMUNIC A TIN G T O THE PUBLIC AB OUT MER CURY EXPOSURE RISK S 4 7 V

. ADDRESSING INTERN A TIONAL MER CURY SOUR CES 53 V I

. CONDUCTING MERCURY RESEARCH AND MONITORING 6 3 APPENDIX 75 ENDNOTES 79ii - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury



### LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

FIGURE 1

. THE MER CURY CY CLE 1 6 TABLE 1

. NA TIONAL AIR EMISSIONS ESTIMA TES F OR MER CURY 2 2 FIGURE 2. AIR EMISSIONS DA T A FOR MER CURY 2 4 FIGURE 3. T O T AL 200 1 U .S. MER CURY USE IN PR ODUCTS 3 6 FIGURE 4. U.S. MERCURY PRODUCT AND PROCESS USE TRENDS 3 7 FIGURE 5. WHERE ARE MAN-MADE MER CURY EMISSIONS ORIGINA TIN G? 53 FIGURE 6. MAN-MADE AIR EMISSIONS OF MER CUR Y : DISTRIBUTION B Y REGION IN 1 990 AND 2000 5 4 FIGURE 7

. GLOBAL MERCURY USE, 2000 5 5Executive Summary - 3



# EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

OVERVIEW Mer cur y is a natur ally occurring element. It enters the environment as a result of natural sources (such as volcanoes) and human activities (such as industrial com bus tion and mining). Mer cur y is wide spr ead in the U .S. and global en viron ment. Human activities have increased the amount of mer cur y that is a vailable in the atmosphere; in soils and sediments; and in lakes, streams, and oceans. Significant progress has been made to date to r educe indus trial emissions of mer cur y in the U .S., as well as to r educe or elimi nate the amount of mer cur y used in various processes and products. Most of the lar ge indus trial sour ces of mer cur y emissions ar e sites wher e mer cur y is emitted as a byproduct of combustion pr ocesses. Other major sour ces of mer cur y include industrial processes and products that use mer cur y delibera t ely, suc h as certain chlor-alkali chlorine manufacturing processes, batteries, lamps, and measuring devices such as thermometers. Mer cur y is also r eleased through mining practices, sewage discharge, and metal r e fining oper ations. When mer cur y is used in a product, most releases occur during manuf acturing or disposal. In the U .S., ther e ar e ov er 1 00 manuf acturing pr o cesses that use some f orm of mer cur y . 1 While element al mer cur y is t o xic to humans when it is ingested or inhaled, EP A is mos t concerned about me th ylmercur y , as it is a po tent f orm of mer cur y and it is the form to which humans primarily ar e exposed. Me th ylmer cur y can be f ormed fr om o ther deposit ed mer cur y by microbial action in sediment and soils. Once f ormed, meth ylmer cur y can be taken up by aquatic organisms and bioaccumulates up the aquatic food web. While all f orms of mer cur y can bioaccumulat e, meth ylmer cur y generally accumulates to a greater extent than other f orms of mer cur y . 2 Mercury Sources The primar y sour ces of mer cur y r eleases t o air , w a t e r , soils, and sediments can be grouped into four categories:4 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

1

. New releases from naturally-occurring sources (such as volcanic activity and weathering of rocks) 2

. Re-r eleases of his t oric mer cur y pr evi ously deposited through natural and anthropogenic processes in soils, sediments, water bodies, landfills, and waste tailings/piles (also called “re emitted sources”) 3

. N ew r eleases of mer cur y im purities from combustion of fossil fuels, and from smelting of metals such as gold and zinc 4

. New releases resulting from uses of mer cur y in pr oducts and manufacturing processes such as chlor-alkali manufacturing Exposure Pathways In the United States, humans are exposed to me th ylmer cur y mainly b y consuming f ish that cont ain me th ylmer cur y . Aq uatic ecosy s t ems r espond to c hanges in mer cur y deposition in a highly variable manner as a function of differences in their chemical, biological, and physical properties. De pending on the characteristics of a given ecosystem, methylating microbes convert a small but variable fraction of the inorganic mer cur y in the sediments and wa ter derived from human activities and natural sour ces int o me th ylmer cur y . Me th ylmercur y is the only f orm of mer cur y that biomagnifies in the food web. Concentrations of meth ylmer cur y in f ish ar e generally on the order of a million times the me th ylmer cur y concentr ation in wa ter . In addition to mer cur y deposition, ke y f actor s af

f ecting me th ylmer cur y pr oduction and accumulation in fish include the amount and forms of sulfur and carbon species present in a given water body. Thus, two adjoining water bodies receiving the same deposition can have significantly different f ish mer cur y concentr ations. 3 While the primar y pathw a y

of human exposur e to mer cur y is thr ough eating f ish cont aining meth ylmer cur y , individuals may also become exposed to harmful levels of element al mer cur y vapor f ound indoors in work places and in homes. When exposed t o air , element al mer cur y vaporizes and can be inhaled. The number of individuals exposed in the U .S. in this w a y is ve r y small. Fish Consumption Advice Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet, since they contain high quality protein and other essential nutri ents, are low in saturated fat and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children’s proper growth and develop ment. EP A and the U .S. F ood and Drug Adminis tration (FD A) ha v

e issued f ish consumption advice to help consumers understand the connection between the risks of me th ylmer cur y and the benef its of fish. Research shows that most people’s fish consumption does not cause a health concern. Elevated me th ylmer cur y in the bloodstream of unborn babies and young children may harm the developing nervous system, impairing the child’s ability to learn and pr ocess inf ormation. 4 Howe v e r , certain sub-populations are at higher risk than the general population because of their routinely high consumption of fish and shellfish (e.g., tribal and other subsis tence fishers and their families who rely heavily on locally caught fish for the majority of their die t). Mer cur y concentrations in f ish var y widely . While local freshwater fish also contain methylmer-Executive Summary - 5

cur y , the majority of f ish species consumed in the U .S. ar e ocean species and the me th ylmer cur y concentr ations in these species ar e primarily influenced b y the global mer cur y pool. Fish that ar e higher in the food chain—such as king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and shark—have much higher meth ylmer cur y concentrations than fish that are lower in the food chain. The major tool for reaching and educating affected populations has been through fish consumption “advisories” or warnings issued by s t ates, tribes, and the FD A

. In Mar c h 2004, EP A and FD A issued a joint f ederal f ish advisor y f or mer cur y in f ish and shellfish. The advisor y pr o vides advice for women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing moth ers, and young children (see Appendix for the entir e FD A/EP A joint advisor y). 5 Additional EP A outr eac h actions aimed at r educing risks fr om mer cur y ar e discussed in Chap ter IV

. Continuing Research on Sources of Exposure U .S. mer cur y deposition is fr om domes tic man-made sources and from global sources, including natural, re-emitted, and international man-made sour ces. EP A has estimated that over three-quarters (83 per cent) of the mer cur y deposited in the U .S. originat es fr om int ernational sour ces, with the r emaining 1 7 per cent coming fr om U .S. and Canadian sour ces. 6 These f igures include mer cur y fr om natural and re-emitted sources. This estimate is based on an advanced, state-of-the-science modeling assessment of atmospheric fate, transpor t, and deposition of mer cur y . EP A

’s modeling indicat es that a subs t antial variation in mer cur y deposition occur s acr oss the U .S. with domes tic sour ces influencing mer cur y deposition muc h mor e in the eastern U .S. and global sources being a more significant contribu tor to mer cur y deposition in the we s t , where relatively few domestic sources exist. The scientific community’s understanding of mer cur y atmospheric c hemis tr y is evolving and there remain uncertainties r egar ding the simulation of mer cur y in atmospheric c hemis tr y models. EP A continues to work to advance the state of the science on mer cur y c hemis tr y and fa te and transport modeling. 7 EP A has analyzed various scientif ic q ues tions r elating t o the primar y f ish-to human exposure route, including key scientific questions described in Chapter VI. EP A r ecognizes that ther e r emain scientific uncertainties associated with some of these questions, and is committed to continuing to work to advance the science in these areas. Reducing Exposure by Addressing Mercury Releases and Uses in the U.S. and Internationally EP A

’s long-t erm goal is to r educe risks associated with mer cur y . EP A r ecognizes that to reduce the risks associated with mer cur y , the Agency mus t f i rs t under s t and what contributes to the risk and what the appropriate mechanisms of risk reduction might be. EP A will t a k e action t o identify exposed populations, minimize exposures through outreach efforts, and appropri ately reduce anthropogenic releases. As par t of its str a t egy , EP A will assess mer cur y sources of concern and will: focus on uses that would lead to risk, where cost-effective substitutes exist; promote reducing mer cur y in pr ocesses and pr oducts wher e benefits of such reductions would justify costs, even where cost-effective substitutes do not exist; and work to identify and encourage development of alternatives to essential uses of mer cur y that lead to risk

. EP A will also wo r k with its f ederal par tners6 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury to address risks associated with manage ment and disposal of excess supplies of commodity-gr ade mer cur y in the U .S. In addition, EP A will suppor t the ef f o r ts of other countries to take action to address risks associated withglobal mer cur y pollution by developing and implementing partnerships with international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the privat e sect or . Six Areas of Focus in EP A ’ s Roadmap for Mercury EP A

’s R oadmap f ocuses on six k e y ar eas, with the overarching goal of reducing health risks associat ed with mer cur y exposur e. EP A will r educe risk b y : 1

. Addr essing mer cur y r eleases t o the environment 2

. Addr essing mer cur y uses in pr oducts and processes 3

. Managing commodity-grade mer cur y supplies 4

. Communicating risks to the public 5

. Addr essing int ernational mer cur y sources 6

. Conducting mer cur y r esear c h and monitoring Success in reducing risks associated with mer cur y exposur e and mer cur y pollution in the domestic and global ecosystem will depend on pursuing all six of these actions simultaneously. The actions described in the Roadmap will be implemented over a number of year s. EP A will periodically assess progress and make needed changes based on new information, successful e f

f o r ts, and emerging needs. EP A will report on its progress, as well as on any major changes in direction from the current Roadmap

. ABOUT THIS REPORT Over the pas t decade, addr essing mer cur y risks to the environment and human health has been a f ocus f or EP A

. Int ernational, national, and local efforts to reduce mer cur y r eleases and uses ha v

e gr own and are yielding impressive results. For exam ple, o v

erall U .S. mer cur y air emissions have been reduced by 45 percent since 1 990, 8 and mer cur y use in pr oducts and processes decreased 83 percent between 1 980 and 1 9 9 7

. 9 In 1 9 9 7, U .S. man-made emissions contributed to approximately 3 per cent of the global mer cur y pool. 10 In 1 998, EP A issued a draf t Mer cur y A ction Plan for public comment as part of its effort to address priority persistent and bioaccumulative toxic pollutants. The Agency received extensive comments on the 1 998 draf t and held subseq uent meetings with states and tribes, munici palities, industr y , and en vir onment al groups, including a series of “listening sessions” in 2003. Stakeholders provided v

e r y useful in put on those aspects of the mer cur y issue on whic h they believed the A gency should f ocus its ef f o r ts. EP A also created an agency-wide workgroup to develop a new action plan, now called E P A ’s R o admap f or Mercur y (R oadmap). Major of f ices at EP A ar e continuing to work to better understand the sources of mer cur y and how it im pacts human health and the environment. The Roadmap describes the Agency’s most im por t ant actions t o r educe bo th mer cur y r eleases and human exposur e t o mer cur y . Creating the Roadmap has enabled the Agency to maximize coordination of itsExecutive Summary - 7 many diverse efforts, with the goal of im pr oving EP A

’s mer cur y pr ogram. In addition t o pr oviding a r oadmap f or EP A , this report provides important information about mer cur y to o ther f ederal agencies, to our partners in state, tribal, and local governments, and to the public. SUMMAR Y OF THE ROADMAP Human Health and Ecological Effects Mer cur y exposur e can cause a number of adverse effects on human health. These e f

f ects can var y depending on the f orm of mer cur y t o whic h a per son is exposed and the level and length of exposure. The primar y w a y humans ar e exposed to me th ylmer cur y is thr ough eating f ish cont aining meth ylmer cur y . Resear c h shows that most people’s fish consumption does not cause a health concern. Methylmer cur y exposur e can cause neur ological im pairment. The f e tus and ve r y y oung children are more sensitive to methylmercur y than adults. Me th ylmer cur y in the mother’s body passes to the fetus and may accumulate there. There is evidence in adults that the organic f orm of mer cur y , me th ylmer cur y , also af f ects o ther sys t ems. Specifically, some studies suggest that pr olonged exposur e to me th yl-mer cur y , especially at higher levels, can harm the heart, kidneys, and immune system. Howe v e r , additional s tudies ar e needed to better categorize the effect of methylmercur y on these health endpoints. 11 In the United States, human populations mos t highly exposed to me th ylmer cur y ar e those that eat fish and shellfish containing me th ylmer cur y in excess of the r ecom mendations cont ained in the joint U .S. FD A and EP A consumer advisor y “ What Y

ou N eed t o Kno w About Mer cur y in Fish and Shellfish.” Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet because they contain protein and other essential nutrients. Although nearly all fish and shellf ish cont ain traces of mer cur y , r e search shows that most people’s fish consumption does not cause a health concern. Ho we v e r , elevated lev els of me th ylmer cur y in the bloodstr eam of unborn babies and young children may harm the dev eloping ner v ous sy s t em, impairing the child’s ability to learn and pr ocess inf ormation. 12 Fish that ar e higher in the food chain—such as king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and shark—have higher me th ylmer cur y concentr ations than f ish that ar e lowe r on the f ood c hain. Mer cur y concentrations in commer cial f ish var y widely

. 13 The majority of fish species consumed in the U .S. ar e ocean species and the me th ylmer cur y concentr ations in these species ar e primarily influenced b y the global mer cur y pool. 14 While the primar y pathwa y

of human exposur e to mer cur y is thr ough eating f ish cont aining me th ylmer cur y , individuals may also become exposed to harmful levels of element al mer cur y vapor f ound indoor s in workplaces and in homes. When exposed to air , element al mer cur y vaporizes and can be inhaled. The number of individuals exposed in the U .S. in this w a y is v e r y small. Fish-eating birds and mammals and their predators are at risk for greater exposure to mer cur y than o ther animals. Me th ylmer cur y has been f ound in eagles, o t ters, and endanger ed Florida panther s. 15 De pending on the level of exposure, effects of me th ylmer cur y exposur e on wildlif e can include mortality, reduced fertility, slower growth, and abnormal behavior that af

f ects sur vival. 16 Fish dev elopment and reproduction may also be altered by the levels of me th ylmer cur y f ound in wa ter ecosystems.8 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

I. Addressing Mercury Releases **Air** Addr essing mer cur y r eleases to the air is im por t ant because mer cur y in the air can be deposit ed to wa ter , con v

e r t ed to me th ylmer cur y , and t a k en up b y f

ish. The U .S. has made significant progress in the reduction of industrial emissions of mercur y to the air . In the las t 1 5 y ear s, EP A has f ocused mos t of its mer cur y r eduction efforts on large point sources of air emis sions, such as municipal waste combustors, medical waste incinerators, hazardous waste combustors, and more recently, industrial boilers and chlor-alkali facilities. With the March 2005 completion of final regulations for coal-fired power plants, the Agency now has Clean Air Act (CAA) s t andar ds in place limiting mer cur y air releases from most major known indus trial sour ces in the U .S. In addition to implementing these stan dards, the Agency, under the CAA Area Source program, is in the process of addressing certain smaller point sources that emit mer cur y . 17 U nder the CAA Residual Risk pr ogram, 18 the Agency is evaluating the remaining risks, if any, fr om sour ces f or whic h EP A has previously issued emissions standards under CAA §1 1 2(d). Mer cur y is one of sev er al hazar d ous air pollut ants that EP A will be in v

e s ti gating under these programs. **W a**  **te r**  The majority of mer cur y in U .S. water s , par ticularly in the eas tern U .S., r esults from air deposition from a variety ofsources including man-made, natural reemitt ed legacy mer cur y , and global deposi tion. 19 St a t es, tribes, and EP A

’s air and water programs are working together to addr ess mer cur y air deposition issues that af

f ect water q uality and mer cur y concen tr ations in f ish. EP A has s t r engthened its modeling tools to better identify sources of mer cur y deposition; r elate c hanges in air deposition to mer cur y concentrations in fish; and ultimately determine the best mer cur y r eduction str a tegies. EP A will continue to fur ther c har acterize mer cur y discharges to water and will issue guidance on im plement ation of its me th ylmer cur y w a ter q uality crit erion. EP A will wo r k with its partners to develop tools and ap pr oac hes f or identifying mer cur y im pairments and dev eloping mer cur y to t a l maximum daily loads (TMDLs) in water bodies. Mer cur y can also be r eleased dir ectly t o water from wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities, and from current and historic mining activities (particularly in the w e s t ern U .S.). The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA, now known as the National Association of Clean W a ter A gencies) es timated that about 36 per cent of mer cur y entering publicly owned treatment works is dis charged from dental offices due to mercur y in was t e dent al amalgam. Mer cur y discharges from dental offices far exceeded all other commercial and residential sour ces, eac h of whic h w as below 1 0 per cent. 20 EP A r egions and st ates ar e working with dental offices to encourage collection of dental amalgam before it enters the waste stream. In addition, wastewater treatment plants are beginning to implement best management practices f or collecting mer cur y fr om o ther indus trial sour ces. EP A is pr oviding guidance t o wastewater treatment plants on how to c haracterize sour ces of mer cur y to the collection system and how to develop mer cur y minimization measur es wher e appr opriat e. Mer cur y in the wast ewa t er collection systems may come from the medical sector , dent al of f ices, sc hools, and cer t ain indus tries. EP A and the st at es alsoExecutive Summary - 9 are modifying surface water discharge permits to incorporate more stringent r e q uir ements in mer cur y disc harges, where appropriate. **Land** Mining is the larges t sour ce of mer cur y r eleases dir ectly t o the land in the U .S. 21 Mining releases occur as a result of existing mining operations for gold, zinc, and silver; the smelting of zinc and other metals and runoff from waste tailings; and fr om abandoned gold, silv er , and mer cur y mines. The T oxics R elease In v

entor y (TRI) reporting indicates these types of releases to land are large in scope and appear t o be incr easing. Of the 5. 1 4 million pounds of mer cur y r eleased t o land, 1 .4 million pounds is placed in surface impoundments and 3.7 million pounds is placed directly on the land in wast e piles. Less than 1 ,000 pounds goes to landfills. 22 Most of these releases are not generally considered as environmentally harmful as r eleases to air , ho we v e r , be cause the mer cur y ma y be less mobile and less likely to reach surface waters and fish. Howe v e r , in cer t ain ar eas of the w e s t ern U .S., mining runof f/er osion to sediments can be the primar y sour ce of mer cur y in fish in local waters. The 2004 TRI data indicate increases in reported releases from mining. 23 For more details on the TRI, see Section I, Addr essing Mer cur y Releases. As a r esult, EP A is placing a higher priority on efforts to understand the risk associated with mer cur y r eleases to land from mining and take appropriate action. II. Addressing Mercury Uses in Prod ucts and Processes Addr essing uses of mer cur y in pr oducts and industrial processes is a component of preventing human exposure from mercur y r eleases to air , w a t e r , and land. His t orically , the larges t U .S. uses of mercur y we r e in batt eries, c hlor -alk ali manu facturing, and paint. 24 Mer cur y use has now been eliminated in most batteries and in paint. T oda y in the U .S. the larges t indus trial use of mer cur y continues t o be in chlor-alkali manufacturing, while the dominant uses in products are in electrical and measuring devices. 25 Many states, tribes, and local governments ha v

e been leader s in r educing mer cur y use. States have passed legislation calling for restrictions, bans, and labeling of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts, as w ell as the r emoval and collection of mer cur y con taining devices from the waste stream. States and local governments continue to initiate their own use reduction and collection programs from schools, hospi tals, and laboratories to encourage the pr oper disposal and r ecy cling of mer cur y . EP A

’s long-t erm goal is to r educe risks associated with mer cur y . EP A r ecognizes that to reduce the risk associated with mer cur y , the Agency mus t f i rs t under s t and what contributes to the risk and what the appropriate mechanisms of risk reduction might be. EP A will t a k e action t o identify exposed populations, minimize exposures through outreach efforts, and appropri ately reduce anthropogenic releases. As par t of its str a t egy , EP A will assess mer cur y sources of concern and will: focus on uses that would lead to risk, where cost-effective substitutes exist; promote reducing mer cur y in pr ocesses and pr oducts wher e benefits of such reductions would justify the costs, even where cost-effective substi tutes do not exist; and work to identify and encourage development of alternativ es to essential uses of mer cur y that lead to risk . EP A will also w o r k with its f ederal partners to address risks associated with10 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury management and disposal of excess sup plies of commodity -grade mercur y in the U .S. EP A will explor e bo th r e gulat o r y and v

olunt ar y pr ograms looking at subs titut es f or mer cur y in pr oducts. The Agency will pr omo t e the pr ocur ement of non-mer cur y pr oducts by f ederal agencies. EP A is build ing a national database of information on mer cur y use in pr oducts. EP A will continue its successful v olunt ar y par tner ships, suc h as the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment program—its project with the health care indus tr y to eliminat e the use and pur c hase of mer cur y-cont aining medical devices and instruments. 26 The Agency also will con tinue to wo r k with the U .S. Chlorine Ins titut e t o monitor mer cur y use in the r emaining mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants in the U .S.

III. Managing Commodity-Grade Mer cury Supplies Element al mer cur y is used in man y pr od ucts and processes, and is sold as a commod ity on the global market. In recent years, approximately one-half of the current world mer cur y supply has come fr om mer cur y mines in Spain, Algeria, and K

yr gyzs t an. (The Spanish mine has r ecently ceased mining operations.) The other half comes fr om the r ecy cling of mer cur y fr om discar ded mer cur y -cont aining pr oducts and o ther wast es, mer cur y r ecov e r ed as a byproduct from mining of gold and other me t als, and mer cur y supplies fr om the closur e of mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants. 27 As indus tr y finds alternativ es to uses of mer cur y , and as mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants phase out the use of mer cur y in their pr ocesses, EP A expects that ther e will be an excess supply of elemental commod ity-grade mer cur y on the global mar ke t in the near future. As a result, there will be an increasing need for safe storage of excess mer cur y supplies. Many states and local governments are now encouraging public and private collection programs for both bulk element al mer cur y and discar ded mer cur y containing products. The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) has indi cated that states do not have the re sour ces or desir e to s t or e sur plus mer cur y , and are looking to the federal govern ment to address this issue. 28 The issue of whether the federal govern ment, states, or the private sector shouldtake responsibility for storing commoditygrade mer cur y supplies is an im por t ant and complex policy decision. In 2006, EP A will wo r k with o ther f ederal agencies to initiate a process with technical experts and interested parties to discuss options f or addr essing the expect ed mer cur y sur plus. EP A continues t o evaluate op tions f o r disposal of mer cur y supplies, and published a report in April 2005 on the technical and economic feasibility of selected land disposal technologies in a monofill. 29

I V

. Communicating to the Public About Mercury Exposure Risks The Agency will increase its risk commu nication and outreach activities to help people avoid or reduce their exposure to mer cur y . In the U .S., the gr eates t mercur y exposur e t o the gener al population is from eating fish and shellfish contain ing high levels of me th ylmer cur y . F e tuses, nursing infants, and young children are at greatest risk because of their dev eloping ner v ous sys t ems. The primar y tool for reaching and educating affected populations has been through fish con sumption advisories issued by states and tribes. In addition, in 200 4, EP A andExecutive Summary - 11

FD A issued a joint f ish consum ption advisor y f or mer cur y that helps consumer s understand the benefits of fish consump tion, the risks of consumption to certain sub-populations, and mer cur y lev els in certain fish. 30 Many consumers are not aware of poten tial indoor mer cur y risks in sc hools, homes, and the workplace. Misuse or accidental breakage of some products can create indoor air health risks and exposure to danger ous lev els of mer cur y . The Agency will make it a priority to provide consumers with reliable risk inf ormation about mer cur y exposur e so that they can make informed choices about the fish they eat and the products they use. EP A

’s most r ecent ef f o r t has been the Januar y 2005 launc hing of its consolidat ed w ebsite on mer cur y . 31 The Agency will develop informational materi als; support and build upon existing state, tribal, and local outreach campaigns; and maint ain its centralized mer cur y w ebsite with helpful information on all aspects of mer cur y . EP A will also conduct public awareness evaluations of the effectiveness of existing outreach campaigns.

V

. International Mercury Sources EP A has es timated that ov er thr ee-q uarters (83 per cent) of the mer cur y deposit ed in the U

. S. originat es fr om international sour ces, with the r emaining 1 7 per cent coming fr om U .S. and Canadian sour ces. These figures include mer cur y from natural and re-emitted sources. This estimate is based on an advanced, state-ofthe-science modeling assessment of atmo spheric fate, transport, and deposition of mer cur y . EP A

’s air q uality modeling indicates that a substantial variation in mer cur y deposition occurs acr oss the U .S., with domes tic sour ces inf luencing mer cur y deposition muc h mor e in the eas tern U .S. and global sources being a more significant contributor t o mer cur y deposition in the west, where relatively few domestic sources exist. 32 The scientific community’s unders t anding of mer cur y atmospheric c hemis tr y is evolving and ther e r emain uncer t ain ties r egar ding the simulation of mer cur y in atmospheric c hemis tr y models. EP A continues to work to advance the state of the science on mer cur y c hemis tr y and fa te and transport modeling. A number of key international emission sources contribute to global cycling and deposition of mer cur y via air pathways, including: coal-fired combustion sources; mining and metals pr oduction, suc h as smelting; mer cur y-cell chlor-alkali manufacturing facilities; and combustion or incineration of waste pr oducts cont aining mer cur y . 33 EP A is curr ently par ticipating in a wide range of bilateral, regional, and international programs and agreements to address mer cur y r eleases and uses and the r esultingexposure around the globe. At the twentythird session of the UNEP Governing Council, which was held in Nairobi, Ke n y a, F ebruar y 2 1–25, 2005, delegat es agreed to further develop the UNEP Mer cur y Pr ogr am and to suppor t the efforts of countries to take action to addr ess global mer cur y pollution. Gov ern ments agreed to develop and implement partnerships with international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to reduce the risks that r esult from the r elease of mer cur y to the environment. The partnerships created will leverage resources, technical exper tise, tec hnology tr ansf er , and inf or

mation exchanges to provide immediate, effective action that will result in tangible r eductions of mer cur y use and emissions. 3412 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

EP A is building on exis ting bilateral, multilateral, and international agree ments. In addition, EP A will build collabo rative partnerships under UNEP with industries and environmental groups to bring technical expertise and assistance to addr ess the global mer cur y problem. EP A plans to work with its international partners to reduce risks associated with mer cur y emissions fr om lar ge point sources such as coal-fired power plants, chlor-alkali facilities, and artisanal gold mining; to r educe mer cur y use in pr oducts internationally (including mer cur y -con taining batteries) where there are costeffective opportunities to reduce risk; to increase risk communication; to address the issue of commodity-grade mer cur y on the international market; and to research global f a te and transpor t of mer cur y . VI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring In 2000, EP A

’s Of f ice of R esear c h and Development (ORD) published its Mercury Research Strategy , 35 which outlined a strategic approach for the Agency’s mercur y r esear c h pr ogram. The pur pose of the Agency’s mer cur y r esear c h is to develop information that will reduce scientific uncertainties currently limiting the Agency’s ability to assess and manage risks posed b y mer cur y and meth ylmercur y . Resear c hr esults suppor t EP A

’s air , wa ter , waste, and toxics programs in their ongo ing r e gulat or y and non-r egulator y ef f o r t s t o addr ess mer cur y . ORD will continue to pursue its long-term goals to reduce health risks associat ed with mer cur y and to be tt er understand the transport and fate of mer cur y in the en vir onment. The major near - t erm em phasis of the mer cur y research program will continue to be focused on science and technology related 

### T o access this document electronically and to monitor the st atus of Roadmap activities visit www .ep a.gov/mercury . to the control of coal-fired power plant mer cur y emissions. In addition to research, scientifically sound mer cur y monitoring pr ograms ar e essen tial for assessing the effectiveness of curr ent r e gulator y and volunt ar y pr o grams and for tracking health and envi ronmental trends. Much progress has been made in r ecent year s by EP A and others to establish routine monitoring and reporting systems to collect data on mer cur y r eleases and cont amination. EP A is continuing to track and report data on mer cur y in f our ar eas: air emissions, ambient air , air deposition, and f ish tissue. The Agency will utilize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dat a on mer cur y in human blood and hair sam ples. EP A will also continue to wo r k with o ther s t o monitor o ther mer cur y releases and ambient concentrations. The Agency plans to use various existing databases for tracking overall progress in r educing mer cur y exposur e. In addition, EP A will continue to seek im pr ov ement in monitoring methods and databases for mer c u r y .Executive Summary - 13

ENDNOTES 1. E P A , 1 999a. 1 999 N ational Emissions In v

entor y Document ation and Dat a—Final V e r sion 3.0. Accessible at : www.epa.go v/ttn/c hief/net/1 999in v entor y .html. 2. E P A , 2005c. U .S. En vir onment al Pr o t ection A gency. N a tional Listing of Fish Advisories. F act Shee t, Sep. 2005. EP A-823-F -05 - 004. Accessible at: http://epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advisories/fs2004.pdf. 3

. RIA , R egulator y Im pact Analysis, Clean Air Mer cur y R ule. EP A , 2005. Accessible at : http://epa.go v/ttn/atw/utility/T SC - 1 1 2final.pdf. 4

. N R C, 2000. N ational Resear c h Council. T oxicological Ef f ects of Me th ylmer cur y . Committ ee on The T o xicological Ef f ects of Me th yl-mer cur y , Boar d on En vir onment al Studies and T o xicology . Accessible at: http://books.nap.edu/books/03090 7 1 402/html/1 .html. 5. E P A and FD A , 2004. What Y ou N eed t o Know A bout Mer cur y in Fish and Shellf ish. EP A

-823-F -0 4-009. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html. 6

. E P A , 2005a. T e c hnical Suppor t Document, R evision of December 2000 Regulator y Finding on the Emissions of Hazar dous Air P

ollut ants F r om Electric Utility S t eam Generating U nits and the R emoval of Coal- and Oil-Fir ed Electric Utility St eam Generating U nits fr om the §1 1 2(c) List : Reconsider ation, Oct. 2 1 , 2005. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/T SC-1 1 2 finaL.pdf. 7

. A Community Multiscale Air Quality ( CMAQ) modeling run was performed to estimate the impact of global sources on U.S. deposition estimates. For this analysis, all non-U.S. mercury input species to the model were set to zero. By comparing the res ults of this analysis with the 200 1 Clean Air Mer cur y R ule (CAMR) base case run, whic h included all U .S. and global mercur y species, the percent of total mercury deposition attributable to global sources can be estimated. The model estimated that over 80 perce nt of total mercury deposition in the U.S. is attributable to global sources. Due to the evolving nature of mercury modeling science, such deposition estimates have associated uncertainties. For example, i t remains difficult to distinguish between the natural emissions of mercury and the re-emission of previously deposited anthropo genic mercury and there remains uncertainty in the scientific community concerning the atmospheric processes that control the oxidation state of atmospheric mercury. Thus, further advances in the current understanding of mercury chemistry could potentially lead to changes in the modeling parameters and assumptions governing the mercury chemistry in the models and therefore, changes in the estimate of the fraction deposited in the U.S. attributable to global sources. 8

. E P A , 1 999a. U .S. En vir onment al Pr o t ection A gency . 1 999 N ational Emissions In v

ent or y Document ation and Dat a—Final V e r sion 3.0. A ccessible at : www.epa.go v/ttn/c hief/ne t/1 999in v

ent or y .html. 9

. Jasinski, S.M. 1 9 9 4. The Materials Flo w of Mer cur y in the U nited S t ates. U .S. Bureau of Mines, Inf ormation Cir cular 9 4 1 2

. Accessible at : http://pubs.usgs.gov/usbmic/ic-9 4 1 2/. 1 0

. E P A , 1 999a, and UNEP 2002. U nited N ations En vir onment Pr ogramme. Global Mer cur y Assessment. Accessible at : www.c hem.unep.c h/mer cur y/repor t/GMA- r epor t- T OC.htm. 1 1

. CDC, 2005. Cent er s f or Disease Contr ol. Mer cur y , pp. 45-5 1 in Thir d N ational Repor t on Human Exposur e to En vir onment al Chemicals. Accessible at: www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/3rd/downloads.htm. 1 2

. N R C, 2000. N ational R esear c h Council. T oxicological Ef f ects of Me th ylmer cur y . Committ ee on The T o xicological Ef f ects of Me th yl-mer cur y , Boar d on En vir onment al Studies and T o xicology . Accessible at: http://books.nap.edu/books/03090 7 1 402/html/1 .html. E P

A , 200 1a. Re f e r ence Dose f or Chr onic Or al Exposur e (RfD)—Meth ylmer cur y , last revised 7/2 1/0 1

. Integr at ed Risk Inf ormation System (IRIS). Accessible at: www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0073.htm#reforal. 1 3

. F D A

. U .S. F ood and Drug Administr ation. Mer cur y in Fish: FD A Monit oring Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/seamehg2.html. 1 4

. E P A , 2005a. T e c hnical Suppor t Document, R evision of December 2000 Regulator y Finding on the Emissions of Hazar dous Air P

ollut ants F r om Electric Utility S t eam Generating U nits and the R emoval of Coal- and Oil-Fir ed Electric Utility St eam Generating U nits fr om the §1 1 2(c) Lis t: R econsider ation, Oct. 2 1 , 2005. A ccessible at: www .epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/T SC-1 1 2 final.pdf. 1 5

. E P A , 1 9 9 7 . Mer cur y S tudy Repor t t o Congr ess. EP A

-452/R-9 7-003, December 1 9 9 7 . Accessible at: www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/volume1/pdf. 1 6

. E P A , 1 998. Study of hazar dous air pollut ant emissions fr om electric utility st eam gener ating units—Final R epor t to Congr ess. EP A

453/R -98-00 4a&b, F ebruar y 1 998.14 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

1 7

. E P A . Ar ea Sour ce S t andar ds. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/urban/ar earules.html. 1 8

. E P A . Residual Risk Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: www .epa.go v/ttn/atw/rrisk/residriskpg.html. 19

. E P A , 1 9 9 7

. 20. L W

A , 2002. Larr y W alker Associat es. Mer cur y Sour ce Contr ol and P ollution Pr e v ention Evaluation, Final R epor t, Mar c h 2002, amended July 2002. Prepared for: Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. Accessible at: www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/mercgrant/finalreport.pdf. 2 1

. E P A , 2005b. 2003 T o xics Release In v

entor y (TRI) Public Dat a R elease eRepor t, Ma y 2005. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri03/2003eReport.pdf. 22. E P A , 2005b. 23. E P A , 2005b. 2 4

. Jasinski, S.M., 1 9 9 4. The Mat erials Flo w of Mer cur y in the U nited St at es. U .S. Bur eau of Mines, Inf ormation Cir cular 9 4 1 2

. Accessible at : http://pubs.usgs.gov/usbmic/ic-9 4 1 2/. 2 5

. L a wr ence, Bruce, 200 1

. Be thlehem Apparatus Com pan y , Inc. Pe rsonal communication, June 22, 200 1

. 2 6

. H2E. Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. For information, see: www.h2e-online.org/. 2 7

. Maxson, P

. A ., 200 4. Mer cur y Flo w s Repor t : Mer cur y Flow s in Eur ope and the W orld, The Im pact of Decommissioned Chloralkali Plants. European Commission. Accessible at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/chemicals/mercury/pdf/report.pdf. 2 8

. Quicksilver Caucus, 2003. Mercury Stewardship Storage of Mercury, Review Draft, February, 2003. Accessible at: www.sso.org/ecos/Quick%20silver%20documents/RD%20QSC-STOR%20Mar-03.pdf. 2 9

. E P A , 2005f. Economic and En vir onment al Analy sis of T e c hnologies to T r eat Mer cur y and Dispose in a W a st e Cont ainment F acility. See: www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/pubs/600r05 1 5 7/600r05 1 5 7 .pdf. 30. E P A and FD A , 2004. What Y ou N eed t o Know A bout Mer cur y in Fish and Shellf ish. EP A

-823-F -0 4-009. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html. 3 1

. E P A . Mer cur y W eb site. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/mer cur y/. 32. E P A , 2005a. 3 3

. UNEP , 2002. U nit ed N ations En vir onment Pr ogramme. Global Mer cur y Assessment. Accessible at : www. c hem.unep.c h/mer cur y/Repor t/GMA -r epor t- T OC.htm. 3 4

. UNEP , 2005. R esults of the Gov erning Council ’s discussions on c hemicals management, including mer cur y pr ogramme, at its 23rd session in February, 2005. Accessible at: www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/GC23-results.htm. 3 5

. E P A , 2000. Mer cur y Resear c h S tr a t egy . EP A

-600-R-00-0 73. Accessible at : http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=20853.Introduction - 15



# EP A ’S RO ADMAP FOR MERCURY : Introduction 

# M M er cur y is a naturally occurring element. It enters the environ ment as a result of natural sources (such as volcanoes) and human activities (such as industrial combustion and mining). Mer cur y is widespr ead in the U .S. and global en vir onment. Human activities have increased the amount of mer cur y that is a vailable in the atmos phere; in soils and sediments; and in lakes, streams, and oceans. While element al mer cur y is toxic to humans when it is ingested or inhaled, EP A is mos t concerned about meth ylmer cur y , as it is a po t ent f orm of mer cur y and it is the form to which humans primarily ar e exposed. Me th ylmer cur y can be f ormed fr om other deposited mer cur y by microbial action in sediment and soils. Once f ormed, meth ylmer cur y can be taken up by aquatic organisms and bioaccumulates up the aquatic food web. While all f orms of mer cur y can bioaccumulate, me th ylmer cur y generally accumulates to a greater extent than other f orms of mer cur y . Me th ylmer cur y accumulat es in fish tissue, which may then be consumed by people and wildlif e. Mer cur y concentrations in f ish var y widely . Fish that ar e higher in the food chain—such as king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and shark—have much higher meth ylmer cur y concentrations than fish that are lower on the food chain. The majority of fish species consumed in the U .S. ar e ocean species and the me th ylmer cur y concentr ations in these species ar e primarily influenced by the global mer cur y pool. Local freshwater fish also contain methylmer cur y . S t a tes monit or their wa ter s b y sampling fish tissue for persistent pollutants that bioaccumulate. States issue their advisories and guidelines voluntarily and h a v

e fl e xibility in what crit eria they use and how the data are collected. As a result, there are significant variations in the number of waters tested, the pollutants tes t ed f o r , and the thr eshold f or issuing advisories.Based on self-reporting, the national trend is for states to monitor dif f e r ent w a t e rs eac h year , generally without retesting waters monitored in16 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

FIGURE 1. The Mercury Cycle 4

pr evious year s. 1 F o r t y- f our s t ates, one territor y , and two Indian tribes ha v

e issued fish consumption advisories recom mending that some people limit their consumption of fish from certain water bodies as a r esult of me th ylmer cur y f ound in f ish. 2 Human-caused mer cur y emissions h a v

e dr opped 45 per cent in this countr y since 1 990. 3 EP A has no t monit or ed natural mer cur y emissions in this countr y , which may also have changed over the same period. Mercury Sources The primar y sour ces of mer cur y r eleases to air , water , soils, and sediments can be grouped into four categories: 1

. New releases from naturally-occurring sources (such as volcanic activity and weathering of rocks) 2

. Re-r eleases of his toric mer cur y pr evi ously deposited through natural and anthropogenic processes in soils, sediments, water bodies, landfills, and waste tailings/piles (also called “re emitted sources”) 3

. N e w r eleases of mer cur y im purities from combustion of fossil fuels, and from smelting of metals such as gold and zinc 4

. New releases resulting from uses of mer cur y in pr oducts and manufacturing processes such as chlor-alkali manufacturing Human Health Effects Mer cur y exposur e ef f ects can var y depend ing on the f orm of mer cur y to whic h a person is exposed and the level and length of exposur e. The primar y wa y humans ar e exposed to meth ylmer cur y is thr oughIntroduction - 17 eating f ish cont aining me th ylmer cur y . Research shows that most people’s fish consumption does not cause a health concern. Howe v e r , elevat ed meth ylmercur y in the bloods tr eam of unborn babies and young children may harm the developing ner v ous sy s t em, im pairing the child’s ability to learn and process information. There is some evidence that exposur es to me th ylmer cur y ma y r esult in genotoxic or immunotoxic effects. Other research suggests that reproductive, renal, car dio vascular , and hemat ologic im pacts ma y be of concern. Howe v e r , additional studies are needed to better characterize the ef f ect of me th ylmer cur y on these endpoints. 5 While the primar y wa y humans ar e exposed to me th ylmer cur y is thr ough eating f ish cont aining me th ylmer cur y , individuals may also become exposed to harmful levels of element al mer cur y vapor in homes and workplaces. When exposed to air , element al mer cur y vaporizes and can be inhaled. Exposures from improper handling of mer cur y in sc hools, labor a t o ries, and manufacturing plants; from accident al mer cur y spills; or in cultural and ritualistic uses can result in severe e f

f ects. V e r y small amounts of element al mer cur y (ev en a f ew dr ops) can raise indoor air concentrations of mer cur y to harmful levels. The longer people breathe the cont aminated air , the gr eat er the risk to their health. At high exposures elemen t al mer cur y vapor s can pr oduce sev er e lung, gas tr oint es tinal, and ner v ous sy s t e m damage. The number of individuals exposed in this w a y in the U .S. is ve r y small. Ecological Effects Birds and mammals that eat fish and their predators are at risk for greater exposure to me th ylmer cur y than o ther animals. Me th ylmer cur y has been f ound in eagles, otters, and endangered Florida panthers. The 1 9 9 7 Mer cur y S tudy Repor t t o Congress provides some data that suggest some highly-exposed wildlife species are affected by me th ylmer cur y . 6 Depending on the level of exposur e, ef f ects of me th ylmer cur y exposure on wildlife can include mortality, reduced fertility, slower growth and development, and abnormal behavior that af

f ects sur vival. 7 Reducing mer cur y r eleases t o the air is im por t antbecause airborne mer cur y can travel short and long distances; be depos ited on land and water resources locally, nationally, regionally, and globally; and lead to elevat ed meth ylmer cur y lev els in f ish. EP A es timates that since the begin ning of the industrialized period, total global atmospheric mer cur y bur den has increased by a factor of between two and five. 8 Figure 1 illustrates the physical cycle of airborne mer cur y fr om natural and anthropogenic sources as it is deposited to land and water and re-released. U .S. mer cur y deposition is fr om domes tic man-made sources and from global sources, including natural, re-emitted, and international man-made sour ces. EP A has estimated that over three-quarters (83 per cent) of the mer cur y deposited in the U .S. originat es fr om int ernational sour ces, with the r emaining 1 7 per cent coming fr om U .S. and Canadian sour ces. 9 These f igures include mer cur y fr om natural and re-emitted sources. This estimate is based on an advanced, state-of-the-science modeling assessment of atmos-pheric fate, transpor t, and deposition of mer cur y . Air emissions of mer cur y fr om combus tion and industrial processes are the largest contributor to U .S. emissions. EP A

’s air quality modeling indicates that a substan tial variation in mer cur y deposition occur s18 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

acr oss the U .S., with domes tic sour ces influencing mer cur y deposition muc h mor e in the eas tern U .S. and global sources being a more significant contribu tor to mer cur y deposition in the we s t , where relatively few domestic sources exist. The scientific community’s understanding of mer cur y atmospheric c hemis tr y is evolving and there remain uncertainties r egar ding the simulation of mer cur y in atmospheric c hemis tr y models. EP A continues to work to advance the state of the science on mer cur y c hemis tr y and fa te and transpor t modeling. 10 Reducing Mercury Exposure T

o fur ther r educe risks associated with mer cur y , EP A

’s priority activities f ocus on six key areas: 1

. Addr essing mer cur y r eleases to the environment 2

. Addr essing mer cur y uses in pr oducts and processes 3

. Managing commodity -gr ade mer cur y supplies 4

. Communicating risks to the public 5

. Addr essing international mer cur y sources 6

. Conducting mer cur y r esear c h and monitoring EP A will continue to pur sue r e gulat o r y and v

olunt ar y actions that will r educe risks associated with mer cur y . EP A

’s long-term goal is to reduce risks associated with mer cur y . EP A r ecognizes that t o reduce the risks associated with mer cur y , the Agency must first understand what con tributes to the risk and what the appropri ate mechanisms of risk reduction might be. EP A will t a k e action to identify exposed populations, minimize exposures through outreach efforts, and appropri ately reduce anthropogenic releases. As par t of its s t rategy , EP A will assess mer cur y sources of concern and will: focus on uses that would lead to risk, where cost-effective substitutes exist; promote reducing mer cur y in pr ocesses and pr oducts wher e benefits of such reductions would justify the cost, even where cost-effective substi tutes do not exist; and work to identify and encourage development of alternatives t o essential uses of mer cur y that lead to risk . EP A will also w o r k with its f ederal partners to address risks associated with management and disposal of excess supplies of commodity-grade mer cur y in the U .S. In addition, EP A will suppor t the efforts of other countries to take action to address risks associated with global mercur y pollution b y dev eloping and im ple menting partnerships with international organizations , non-governmental organizations, and the private sector . As w e wo r k on these shor t and long-term plans, EP A will continue to work with federal partners to continue to educate the public about the risks of exposur e fr om diet a r y and non-die t a r y sour ces. S t ate, T ribal, Local, and International Government Collaboration with EP A In order to achieve reductions risks from mer cur y exposur e, EP A will continue to collaborate with its state, tribal, and local government partners. As co-regulators with EP A , s t ates ha v

e been actively en gaged in a range of programs and partnerships to r educe mer cur y uses, r eleases, and exposur e and to conduct mer cur y moni toring activities. In many cases, states and local governments have been leaders in mer cur y r eduction ef f o r ts. EP A will build on these efforts and, where appropriate,Introduction - 19 help state and local governments replicate successful efforts. In Ma y of 200 1 , a coalition of s t a t e go v

ern ment environmental association leaders formed the Quick-silver Caucus (QSC) in order to provide a forum for states to wo rk toge ther , and with EP A , to dev elop collaborative holistic approaches for r educing mer cur y in the en vir onment. In addition, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), an association of state environmental agency leaders, has passed a number of resolutions over the past sever al y ear s that addr ess mer cur y issues, many of which are also addressed in the R oadmap . EP A and s t ates ar e continuing to wo rk toge ther on mer cur y issues under a cooperative agreement with ECOS. EP A is also wo r king with tribes to dev elop new activities that will help the Agency make pr ogr ess towar d att ainment of EP A

’ s long-term goals of “fishable waters” and “edible f ish.” T ribal community member s who follow traditional diets and lifestyles may face greater risk from locally-caught fish than do members of the general population due to the prevalence of locally-caught fish and shellfish in their diets. EP A will wo r k with tribes t o im pr ov e the quality of water and sediments in order to improve fish tissue concentrations in tribal waters. EP A will also continue t o collaborat e with other federal agencies involved in domes tic and international mer cur y issues, including the U .S. F ood and Drug Admin istration; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Departments of Energy, Defense, and State. In addition, partnering with the international community is of great importance to fur thering global mer cur y r eductions. The majority of fish species consumed in the U .S. ar e ocean species and the me th ylmer cur y concentr ations in these species ar e primarily influenced b y global mer cur y contributions. 11 Also, even domes tic freshwater and estuarine fish in many par ts of the U .S. ma y cont ain meth ylmercur y as a r e sult of contributions fr om international sources in addition to domes tic sources.20 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryI. Addressing Mercury Releases - 21



# I. ADDRESSIN G MERCURY RELEASES

OVERVIEW Significant progress has been made to date to r educe indus trial emissions of mer cur y in the U .S., as well as to r educe or elimi nate the amount of mer cur y used in various processes and products. Most of the lar ge indus trial sour ces of mer cur y emissions ar e sites wher e mer cur y is emitted as a byproduct of combustion pr ocesses. Other major sour ces of mer cur y include industrial processes and products that use mer cur y delibera t ely, suc h as certain chlor-alkali chlorine manufacturing processes, batteries, lamps, and measuring devices such as thermometers. Mer cur y is also r eleased through mining practices, sewage discharge, and metal r e f ining operations. When mer cur y is used in a product, most releases occur during manufacturing or disposal. In the U .S., ther e ar e o v

er 1 00 manufacturing pr ocesses that use some f orm of mer cur y . 1 In the las t 1 5 y ear s, EP A f ocused mos t of its mer cur y r eduction ef f o r ts on lar ge point sources of air emissions such as municipal waste combustors, medical waste incinerators, hazardous waste com bustors, and more recently, industrial boilers and chlor-alkali facilities. With the Mar c h 2005 com ple tion of EP A f inal regulations for coal-fired power plants, the Agency now has standards in place limiting mer cur y air r eleases fr om mos t major known indus trial sour ces in the U .S. In the next 1 0 y ear s, in addition to im ple menting the r e gulat o r y s t andar ds in place, the Agency’s ef f o r ts to r educe mer cur y pollution will focus on three areas in particular: smaller sources and industrial uses that collectively contributed over 20 per cent of the nation’s mer cur y air r e leases in 1 999; 2 under s t anding and ad dressing mining releases that in some areas of the we s t ern U .S. ar e the major sources of mer cur y pollu tion to water and land; and international emissions which continue to22 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

contribute t o the mer cur y deposited in the addr ess mer cur y use and emissions abr oad U .S. EP A

’s s t ra tegy f or addr essing these as discussed further in Section V on three areas will include, where applicable, international mer cur y ef f o r ts. (N o t e: The a combination of r e gulat o r y and v olunt ar y Roadmap generally uses metric tons when appr oac hes t o r educe mer cur y r eleases to discussing global mer cur y use and emis air , land, and wa ter , coupled with ef f o r ts t o sions. Howe v e r , U .S. air emissions ar e addr ess the use of mer cur y in pr oducts and reported in English tons. One English ton pr ocesses. As the U .S. continues to addr ess is equivalent to 0.9070 metric tons.) domes tic mer cur y use and r eleases, it will also promote international efforts to Releases to Air **Sour ces**  **.** When the 1 990 Clean Air Act Amendments T

A BLE 1. National Air Emissions Estimates for Mercury 3 passed, mor e than half of U .S. mer cur y air emissions came Source Category 1990 (tons) 1999 (tons) f % reduction from just three source catego ries: coal-fired power plants, Utility Coal Boilers b 51.1 47.9 a 6% municipal solid waste combus tors, and medical waste Industrial Boilers b 12.0 12.0 0% incinerators. The major air emissions source categories Medical W aste Incinerators 49.7 1.6 97% ar e shown in T able 1

. Municipal W aste Combustion 56.7 4.9 91% **Pr ogr**  **ess to date. E**  **P**

**A**

**’s Clean Air Rules.**  Medical waste Hazardous W aste Incinerators b 6.6 6.6 0% incinerators and municipal Chlorine Production 10.0 6.5 30% Electric Arc Furnaces c 6.9 NA NA Gold Mining 3.4 d 1 1 .5 NA Other e 23.5 21.6 6% T

o tal 219.9 1 1 2.6 45%

a 1990 estimate derived using a different methodology

. b Regulations for these categories finalized after 1999. c Electric Arc Furnaces data not available for 1999. The 2002 estimate is 10 tons per year

. d The 1990 emissions estimate is a preliminary estimate and is based on back

calculations and assumptions using data from 1999 along with information about types of processes, production rates, and ores used in 1990 compared to 1999. e Other includes, but is not limited to such items as, Portland cement production –2.36 tons per year (tpy), pulp and paper production–1.69 tpy , and over 219 miscellaneous industrial processes. f 1 ton equals 0.9070 metric ton. solid waste combustors are now subject to stringent control standards that require facilities t o r educe mer cur y emissions by over 90 percent fr om 1 990 lev els. These efforts have contributed to r educing ov er all mer cur y emissions to the air by about 45 percent (from 220 tons in 1 990 to 1 1 3 tons in 1 9 99—see Figure 2). EP A

’s r ecently pr omulgat ed Clean Air Mer cur y R ule (CAMR) is part of a suite of r egulat or y actions that will dramatically improve America’s air quality. CAMR dir ectly r egulat es mer cur y emissions from coal-firedpower plants. Among other things,CAMR requires compliance with a twophase nation wide cap on mer cur y emis sions. The first phase cap (effective in 20 1 0) is 38 tons per year (“tp y”), and the second phase cap (ef f ective in 20 1 8) is 1 5 tpy. Once fully implemented, CAMR will result in about a 70 percent reduction in mer cur y emissions fr om domes tic coalfired power plants, which is a reduction fr om a 1 999 baseline of 48 tons. 4 In addition to CAMR, the Agency re cently issued another rule called the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) that addresses the transport of pollution across state bor ders in the east ern U .S. CAIR will result in the deepest cuts in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions in more than a decade. Although affected States r e t ain fl e xibility t o decide how to ac hiev e the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions reductions required by CAIR, EP A has concluded that obt aining the reductions from power plants is highly cos t-ef f ective. EP A ther e f or e anticipates that affected States will meet their emis sion reduction obligations by controllingpower plant emissions through the twophase cap-and-trade approach provided in the final CAIR, the first phase of which occur s in 20 1 0 and the second in 20 1 5

. EP A also concluded that the t e c hnologies that most cost-effectively achieve sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission reductions for power plants are scrubbers for sulfur dioxide and selective catalytic reduction for nitrogen oxide. These technologies, once implemented, not only reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, they provide important reductions of mer cur y emissions fr om coal-f ir ed powe r plants. Thus, CAIR and CAMR work toge ther and pr ovide a f l exible multipollutant approach for reducing sulfur dioxide, nitr ogen oxide, and mer cur y I. Addressing Mercury Releases - 23

What is EP A ’ s National Emissions Inventory (NEI)? Section 1 12 of the 1990 amendment s to the Clean Air Act (CAA) present s a list of Hazardous Air Pollut ant s (HAPs), also called air toxics, which includes mercury and mercury compounds. In 1993, EP A

began developing the National T oxics Inventory (NTI). This database has been expanded and is now called the National Emissions Inventory (NEI). The NEI is a national repository of emissions inventory data for HAPs. The emissions data and estimates cover major , area, and mobile sources, and include estimates of emissions at the national, regional, county , and facilityspecific levels. The 1999 NEI generally serves as the national baseline inventory for this Roadmap because it includes HAP emission data supplied by 36 states in addition to data gathered while developing Maximum Achievable Control T

echnology (MACT) st andards and T oxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. More information on the NEI, including summary data and documentation, can be obtained at http://www .ep a.gov/ttn/chief/index.html.

emissions from power plants. From a legislative perspective, the President’s proposed Clear Skies legislation, if en acted, would r e q uir e a mandator y 70 percent annual cut in power plant pollu tion (NOx, SOx and mer cur y) when fully implemented. 5 In addition, §1 1 2 (f) of the Clean Air Ac t (CAA) r e q uir ed EP A to com ple t e a R epor t to Congress that includes a discussion of m e thods EP A would use to evaluat e the risk remaining after the application of Maximum Ac hievable Contr ol T e c hnology (MA CT) s t andar ds. These ar e kno wn as r esidual risks. EP A published the R esidual Risk R epor t to Congr ess in Mar c h1 999. 6 The Agency continues to evaluate the remaining residual risks, if any, for aT o ns per Y ear (TPY) 24 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

FIGURE 2. Air Emissions Data for Mercury

a Fifteen tons per year will be acheived when full implementation of the Clean Air Mercury Rule is achieved, which may exceed 2020. b Growth in this sector is being offset by regulation. c Electric Arc Furnaces data not available for 1999. The 2002 estimate is 10 tons per year

. d The 1990 emissions estimate is a preliminary estimate and is based on back calculations and assumptions using data from 1999 along with information about types of processes, production rates, and ores used in 1990 compared to 1999. e These projected emissions do not account for reductions from non-regulatory actions described elsewhere in the Roadmap. f 1 ton equals 0.9070 metric ton Pr ojec ted by 2020 1999 1990 51. 1

12. 0 49. 7 56. 7

6. 6 10. 0 6. 9 23. 5 47. 9

12. 0

1. 6 4. 9 6.6 6. 5 11. 5 21. 6 15. 0 12. 0

0. 2 2. 7 3. 8 5. 0 2. 4 26. 7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Utili ty Coal Boilers Industrial Boilers b Medical W a ste Incineration Municipal Wa s te Combus tion Hazar dous Wa s t e Incineration Chlorine Production Gol d Mining d Ot her e 3. 4

Electric

Arc Furnaces c f

(except utility coal boilers) a

number of source categories for which EP A has issued MA CT s t andar ds. In the context of that r eview, EP A will evaluat e the hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emitt ed by eac h sour ce cat egor y , including mer c u r y . Regional initiatives have also resulted in substantial reductions in air emissions of mer cur y . F or ex am ple, EP A

’s R egion 9 office and the State of Nevada entered into an innovative collaboration with four of the largest gold mining companies in N evada to r educe mer cur y emissions associated with gold mining. 7 The V olun t a r y Mer cur y Emission R eduction Pr o gram set a goal t o r educe mer cur y emis sions by 50 percent by 2005, and has already surpassed this goal. In 2004, the program participants reported a 75I. Addressing Mercury Releases - 25

per cent r eduction fr om the baseline y ear . This is a reduction of 15,702 pounds of mer cur y fr om the baseline emissions of 2 1 ,098 pounds. 8 **Future focus.** The Integrated Urban Air T

o xics S t ra tegy , whic h was published in the F ederal R egis ter in 1 999 9 , is an im port ant element in EP A

’s national air toxics program. The strategy outlines actions to reduce emissions of air toxics, as well as assessment activities t o im pr o v

e EP A

’ s understanding of the health and environ mental risks posed by air toxics in urban areas. One major component of the U rban Air T oxics Str a t egy is the Ar e a Sour ce Pr ogram. 10 Ar ea sour ces ar e smaller sources that can cumulatively emit significant amounts of hazardous air pollutants. The 1 999 S t ra tegy identifies 33 hazar dous air pollut ants, including mer cur y , that EP A de t ermined posed the gr eates t thr eat to public health in the largest number of urban areas. The Strategy further identi fies 30 of those 33 HAP as being emitted by area sources. Finally, the Strategy identif ies the 70 categories of indus tr y sectors (i.e., source categories) that repre sent 90 percent of the aggregate emissions of the 30 identified HAP emitted by area sour ces. T o date, EP A has issued s t andar ds f or 1 6 of the 70 sour ce categories and is currently collecting data and information for many other source categories. Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs)—one of the area source categories that the Agency is curr ently evaluating—emitted about 1 0 tons of mer cur y in 2002. 11 In EAFs, mer cur y is emitt ed thr ough the s t ac k when f err ous scrap cont aining mer cur y switches and other materials contami nated with mer cur y ar e melted. Man y of these mer cur y-cont aining switc hes ar e found in scrap automobiles—over 200 million of these switches were installed in v

ehicles fr om 1 9 7 4 to 2002. Although mer cur y switc hes we r e eliminated fr om new v ehicles at the end of 2002, mer cur y switches will remain in the steel scrap supply f or the next 1 0 to 1 5 y ear s. The s t eel indus tr y r ecy cles about 1 2 to 1 4 million end-of-lif e v ehicles each y ear , and vehicles retired in 2003 had 8.5 million mer cur y-cont aining switc hes. 12 The EP A air toxics program has identified EAFs as a priority sector and currently intends to propose emissions standards for that sour ce cat egor y in 2006.

Releases to W ater **Sour ces**  **.** The majority of mer cur y in surface waters from human activity in the U .S. is the r esult of air deposition, bo th from international and domestic sources. Mer cur y in sur face w a ters can also occur naturally . Mer cur y can be r eleased dir ectly to surface waters from municipal sewagetreatment plants, also called PubliclyOwned T r eatment W o rks (POT Ws), and non-municipal facilities (e.g., industrial and f eder al facilities). Point sour ce disc harges of pollutants to surface waters are required to h a v

e N ational Pollut ant Disc harge Elimi nation Sy s t em (NPDES) permits. 13 On a national basis, these mer cur y disc harges to surface waters are significantly smaller than nationwide inputs to water from air deposition. In some areas, particularly in the w e s t ern s t a t es, mer cur y r esulting fr om past mining pr actices (specif ically mer cur y , silv er , and gold mining) ar e signif icant sour ces of cont amination t o water bodies. 14 EP A

’s T oxics R elease In v

entor y (TRI) pr o vides inf ormation on mer cur y releases to land, air , and wa ter . (See box on page 2 7). Based on the EP A TRI dat a, to t a l q uantities of mer cur y disc harged to sur face waters have declined steadily from 2000 to26 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

200 4. 15 Fr om 2000 to 200 1 the decline w a s s t andar ds) due to mer cur y cont amination ov er 25 per cent ; from 200 1 t o 2002 nearly and will r e q uir e mer cur y TMDLs, 20 and 32 percent; from 2002 to 2003 4 percent; 4 4 s t at es, 1 t errit or y , and 2 tribes ha v

e from 2003 to 2004 nearly 59 percent and fish consumption advisories due to merfrom 2000 to 2004 nearly 38 percent. TRI cur y cont amination. 21 St a t es and EP A data for 2004 indicate that surface water have been discussing how to best address r eleases of mer cur y to t aled appr o ximat ely mer cur y in their water bodies, since 69 4 pounds (0.3 1 me tric tons). An addi - mer cur y can tra v

el fr om sour ces out-oftional 2 1 9 pounds (0. 1 0 me tric tons) per state and from international sources and y ear of mer cur y ef fluent is estimated fr om be deposited on local waters. Developing PO T Ws. 16 TMDLs that identify reductions from local sources alone is unlikely to result in **Clean W a** 

**ter A ct req**  **uir ements**  **.** U nder attainment of water quality standards in the Clean W a ter Act, st at es and authorized many water bodies. tribes must have water quality standards in place that define the designated uses and **Progress to date .**  Because past analytical acceptable levels of pollutants for each me thods could no t de t ect mer cur y at the water body under their jurisdiction. For level of current water quality standards in mer cur y , EP A has published a national man y ef fluents, ther e ar e limit ed dat a on me th ylmer cur y ambient w a t er q uality low-level mer cur y disc harges to w a ter fr om criterion for protection of human health. point sour ces. T o addr ess the critical dat a This is a fish tissue concentration of 0.3 gap, EP A r ecently dev eloped a new mor e par ts per million of me th ylmer cur y , based sensitive analytical method for use in on EP A

’s 200 1 R e f e r ence Dose (RfD) f o r water discharge permits. 22 As NPDES m e th ylmer cur y and consum p tion r a tes. 17 permits are reissued, they should require EP A

’s RfD is an es timate, with uncer t ainty use of this more sensitive method where spanning perhaps an order of magnitude, appropriate. Requiring use of this analyti of a daily oral exposure to the human cal me thod will im pr o v

e EP A

’s underpopulation (including sensitive groups) that standing of the significance of point is likely to be without an appreciable risk sour ce mer cur y contributions to sur fa c e of dele terious ef f ects during a lif e time. 18 w a ters, and will pr ovide necessar y dat a f o r EP A and st at es to de termine whether When pollutant levels exceed water quality surface water discharge permits need to standards, state water quality program include mer cur y ef fl uent limits. managers must take action to reduce pollutant loadings. An initial step in this As no t ed earlier , the s t ates, tribes, and process is the development of a TMDL for EP A

’s air and wa ter pr ograms ar e w o rking a water body. The TMDL is the maximum toge ther on how to addr ess mer cur y daily amount of a pollutant that can enter pollution in TMDLs and water permitting a water body and still ensure that the pr ograms, par ticularly mer cur y fr om air water meets applicable water quality sour ces. T o date, mer cur y TMDLs ha v

e standards. TMDLs also allocate the allow- been developed for over 250 water bodies able pollutant loads between the point and in 1 9 s t a tes. 23 Man y of these TMDLs non-point sour ces of a pollut ant. 19 Ov e r identify needed reductions in air deposi 8,000 individual water bodies are identi - tion of mer cur y . TMDLs suc h as those in fied as impaired (not meeting water quality Georgia and California also incorporatemer cur y c haracterization and minimization provisions for water discharge (NPDES) permit holder s. T o assis t s t a t es in dev eloping mer cur y TMDLs, EP A has conducted two pilot projects in cooperation with Florida and Wisconsin to exam ine approaches that could be used in developing TMDLs for water bodies im pair ed b y atmospheric mer cur y . Within the Great Lakes basin, the states have adopted water quality standards to im plement the W a ter Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System, including a mer cur y crit erion of 1 .3 nanograms perliter (ng/l), based on protection of fisheating wildlif e. 24 Initial r esults in POT W e f

fluent using the low level analytical method have averaged around 4 ng/l, and it is expected that mos t PO T Ws will no t mee t this crit erion. 25 As a r esult, EP A expects the states in the Great Lakes r egion (EP A Regions 2, 3 and 5) will be utilizing statewide or individual variances from applicable water quality standards, whic h will in v

olve se tting mer cur y limits in NPDES permits based on a lowest technically achievable concentration, and r e q uiring the POT W t o im plement a Pollut ant Minimization Pr ogram (PMP) to addr ess mer cur y-contributing sector s within its system. Region 5 has developed a PMP guidance document to promote a consistent approach to PMPs throughout its states. EP A has pr ovided sophis ticat ed air modeling results to states to better identify the mer cur y contributions t o water bodies from different air sources and geographic areas. The Agency has developed analyti cal tools that can be used to estimate the impact of air emission and deposition reductions on freshwater fish tissue con centration. These tools relate changes in mer cur y air emission and deposition r a tes I. Addressing Mercury Releases - 27

EP A ’ s T oxics Release Inventory (TRI) In 1986, the U.S. Congress enacted the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and in 1990 p assed the Pollution Prevention Act (PP A). Section 313 of EPCRA and § 6607 of PP A

require cert ain industrial facilities to submit reports each year on the amounts of toxic chemicals released or otherwise managed as waste. Amount s released are reported sep arately for air , land, water , and offsite disposal. The reported information is compiled and presented annually as the T oxics Release Inventory (TRI). In 1998, several new industry sectors were required to file reports for the first time. The new sectors included metal mining, electric utilties and hazardous waste treatment facilities. These new TRI report s have improved EP A

’ s understanding of releases of mercury and mercury compounds. In 2000, the TRI program reduced the use threshold that triggers mercury reporting from 10,000 pounds to 10 pounds. As a result, small users of mercury and mercury compounds are now required to report. TRI information and mapping cap ability can be publicly accessed at www .ep a.gov/triexplorer

.In this document, “TRI releases” refer to quantities of mercuryor mercury compound-bearing wastes that are released into the environment or otherwise disposed, and include, but are not limited to, releases to air , water and land, and to landfills, surface impoundments and underground injection. Even though disposals may be subject to regulatory and permitting requirements, disposal of mercury in waste to landfills, surface impoundments and underground injection is termed a “release” under TRI.

to c hanges in mer cur y f ish tissue concen trations. 26 By using such methods during the development of a TMDL, states may be able to determine how much of a reduction in air deposition is needed in order to meet water quality standards, and whether other actions in addition to anticipated air deposition reductions will lead to achievement of the water quality standard. The Clean W a ter Act dir ects EP A to develop national technology-based regulations placing limits on the pollutants that ar e disc harged b y categories of indus tr y to sur f ace w a ter s (termed “ef fluent guide -28 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury lines”) or to PO T Ws (termed “pr e t r eatment standards”). Pretreatment standards ensure that pollutants do not pass through or interfere with the safe and effective operation of these POT Ws. CW A §30 7(b) r e q uir es that EP A r evise or est ablish pretreatment standards from time to time, as control technologies, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives change. 27 As part of its pretreatment s t andar ds r eview pr ocess, EP A is r eviewing indus trial sour ces of mer cur y f or po tential technology-based options for controlling mer cur y disc harges t o POT Ws. In addi tion, POT Ws ar e beginning t o im plement best management practices for collecting mer cur y fr om o ther indus trial sour ces. Many states have initiated efforts to reduce mer cur y in was t ew a t er b y f

ocusing on the dent al sect or . Mer cur y in dent al w a s t ew ater can be removed by relatively inexpen sive amalgam separators and/or by using other pollution prevention practices. Amalgam separators currently on the market can capture more than 95 percent of the mer cur y par ticles in was t ewa t er . 28 In addition to outreach and education to dentists on safe handling and disposal practices f or mer cur y-cont aining dent al amalgam, some local efforts are offering incentives to encourage the use of amalgam separators. For example, the city of San Francisco, California has a goal of installing amalgam separators in all 900 dental offices located in the city and is offering assistance and incentives to dental offices least able to afford the separators— specif ically those ser ving low-income communities. 29 **F**

**utur e f**  **ocus .**  EP A will continue t o w o r k with its state and tribal partners to identify approaches to TMDLs for water bodies im pair ed b y atmospheric mer cur y in or der to make progress toward achieving state w a ter q uality s t andar ds. Po t ential ap proaches include regional-scale TMDLs and approaches which take into account com pr ehensive s t ate mer cur y r eduction programs. Releases to Land **Sources .**  TRI provides the best single source of information on releases of mer cur y t o land. Based on TRI, 30 the to t a l amounts of mer cur y that we r e r eleased t o land decr eased b y about 1 8 per cent be tween 2002 and 2003 (from 2,554 to 2,079 metric tons per year). Although these amounts are relatively large, based on existing information, such releases are generally not considered to be as environ mentally harmful as releases to air because the mer cur y ma y be less mobile and less likely to reach surface waters and fish. Nevertheless, because of the large quanti ties of mer cur y in was t e being placed on the land, it is prudent f or EP A to conduct further investigations to determine the risks associated with these releases. The vast majority of U .S. land r eleases ar e the r esult of mining activities. Mer cur y is no longer mined domes tically in the U .S., but is a byproduct of metals mining, particularly gold mining. The 2004 TRI data indicate that 2079 metric tons of mer cur y we r e r eleased to the land. Of that, 1 .46 1 million pounds we r e r eleased to “o ther sur face im poundments” 31 and 2.620 million pounds were released to “other land disposal”. 32 Three metal mining facilities accunted f or o v

er 7 4 per cent of the to t al mer cur y land r eleases in 2004. The majority of TRI land releases is due to gold, silv er , and zinc mining, and may continue to rise over the next few years due to increased gold production. The Agency is beginning to investigate and c haracterize mer cur y r eleases andI. Addressing Mercury Releases - 29 risks from mine tailings and mining processes, as well as other land releases. EP A plans to use the lates t TRI dat ato evaluat e tr ends f or how mer cur y is being released to land. A small percentage of releases to land reported in TRI are not related to mining activities. The majority of these releases is attributed t o the disposal of mer cur y in waste in hazardous or non-hazardous regulated landfills or surface impound ments. **Pr ogr**  **ess to date.** EP A has made subs t an tial progress reducing the volume of mer cur y-cont aining devices disposed of in landfills since 1 990. This pr ogr ess is largely due t o the Batter y Ac t 33 whic h places limits on mer cur y used in batteries. The promulgation of the Municipal Incinerator Rules 34 also helped reduce the amount of mer cur y going into the w a st e str eams by limiting mer cur y emissions fr om these incinerators, which in turn encouraged localities to begin collection and recycling pr ograms f or mer cur y-cont aining devices. The U niv er sal W a s t e R ule 35 is ano ther example of a regulation helping to facili t a te pr oper management of mer cur ycontaining devices to keep them out of incinerators and landfills. In August 2005, EP A f inalized its pr oposal to add mer cur ycontaining devices (e.g., thermometers and switches) to the federal Universal W a s t e R ule. 36 F or these widely-genera t ed hazardous wastes, this rule streamlines entr y into the was t e management sys t em, encourages r ecov e r y and r ecy cling, and keeps wastes out of the municipal waste stream. States and localities have made substantial progress promoting recycling of discar ded mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts. Many states are also involved in banning cer t ain mer cur y-cont aining devices and actively pr omo ting the use of mer cur y substitutes, where available. **Future focus.** Because there is a steady increase in reported land releases, the Agency will expand its efforts to better characterize and address land releases of mer cur y fr om the mining sect or . The Agency intends to evaluate these releases to determine whether further action is needed. Using the lates t TRI dat a, EP A will con tinue to analyze long-term trends and monitor sectors that are not addressing their mer cur y r eleases to assess appr opri ate v olunt ar y or r e gulat o r y a

v

enues f o r addr essing mer cur y r eleases. EP A will continue to addr ess mer cur y releases at remediation sites with signifi cant mer cur y cont amination consis t ent with the priorities set by the Superfund N ational Priorities Lis t 37 and the R CRACorrective Action baseline for highpriority f acilities. 38 EP A will continue t o coordinate with states to assist in cleaning up serious spills of mer cur y in or der to pr o t ect public health. In addition, EP A is looking int o mer cur y issues associat ed with abandoned mines relative to downstream water quality. EP A will continue to wo r k t owar d r educing risk associat ed with mer cur y fr om the nation’s waste streams and from potential releases to land by promoting cost-effective r eductions in mer cur y use in pr oducts and processes and by promoting the collection and r ecy cling of discar ded mer cur y-con taining products. S t ate, T ribal, and Local Government Release Reduction Efforts Many state, tribal, and local governments h a v

e been leader s in addr essing mer cur y30 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury releases. States have developed innovative mer cur y r elease and use r eduction la w s and regulations that supplement, and in some cases pr ovide a model f o r , national efforts. For example, the state of Maine passed a la

w r e q uiring r emoval of mer cur y con v

e nience lighting switches from automobiles prior to crushing the automobiles for scrap metal. 39 The purpose of the legislation is to r educe mer cur y r eleases fr om Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs) used to melt scrap metal for steel production. The source of mer cur y fr om EAFs has been de t ermined to be mer cur y com ponents cont ained in the scrap metal melted by such furnaces. Scrap automobiles ar e the larges t mer cur ycontaining feedstock for these furnaces. 40 Several other states are pursuing their own auto switch removal programs, including Pennsylvania, N ew Y o rk , N ew Jer sey , Illinois, Colorado, W ashington, Or egon, and Idaho. As a result of this state leadership, auto manufacturers no longer install mer cur y switc hes f or con v

enience lighting and are actively investigating ways to keep mer cur y out of v ehicles. In addition, EP A is engaging in discussions with various stakeholders, including auto dismantlers, shredders, steel makers, auto manufacturers, environmental groups, and states, with the aim of developing a collaborative national appr oac h t o r emo ving mer cur y switc hes fr om the lar ge in v

entor y of autos in use today prior to their disposal, crush ing, and smelting. States, tribes, and local governments have played a key role in outreach to the busi ness community and to the general public about the importance of properly dispos ing of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts and about alternatives to such products. Many states and local governments have spon sor ed mer cur y collection pr ograms f o r businesses and households. For example, cities such as San Francisco, California, and states, such as Florida and New Hampshire, are conducting outreach to dentists on the proper handling and disposal of mer cur y-cont aining dent al amalgam, including efforts to promote increased use of dental amalgam separator s that r educe the amount of mer cur y disc harged into the PO T Ws fr om dent al w a st ew at er . Priority Activities for Addressing Mercury Releases

• **St andar**  **d f or Coal-Fir**  **ed P o** 

**w**

**er Plants**

**–** On Mar c h 1 5, 2005, EP A f inalized the Clean Air Mer cur y R ule whic h establishes standards of performance for electric power plants based on a market-based cap-and-trade methodology . This rule will build on EP A

’ s Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to significantly reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants. The standards addr ess mer cur y air emissions fr om new and existing coal-fired electric utility steam generating units. When fully implemented, these rules will reduce power plant emissions of mer cur y fr om 48 t ons per y ear to 1 5 tons per y ear , a r eduction of nearly 70 per cent. 41 **T imeline: C**  **AMR will reduce emissions from 48 t**  **ons to 3 1**  **tons beginning 20**  **1 0**  **and declining ther eaf**  **t er until emissions**  **are reduced to 15 tons when the program is fully implemented** 

• **MA CT S**  **t**

**andar d f**  **or Industrial Boiler**  **s –**  EP A promulgat ed a MA CT s t andar d f or mer cur y air emissions from industrial boilers in September 200 4. This ef f o r t should r esult in a 1 7 per cent r eduction in mer cur y emis sions fr om this sect or since 1 990. **Timeline: Implementation by 2007**I. Addressing Mercury Releases - 31

• **MA CT St**  **andar d f**  **or Hazar dous**  iron and steel and pour the resulting **W a** 

**ste Combust o** 

**r**

**s –**  In Oct ober molten metal into molds to produce 2005, EP A published emission st an - shaped products. The rule includes dar ds f or mer cur y and o ther hazar d- emission limits for manufacturing ous air pollutants for incinerators, processes and pollution preventioncement kilns, lightweight aggregate based requirements to reduce air toxics kilns, industrial/commercial/institu - from furnace materials and coating/ tional boilers and process heaters, and binder formulations. Implementation hydrochloric acid production furnaces of the rule is expected to reduce that burn hazardous waste. An interim mer cur y emissions b y 1 .4 tons—an 80 standard that took effect in 2003 has alr eady r educed mer cur y emissions percent reduction from current levels. 44 **Timeline: Implementation by 2007** from levels in 2000 for incinerators, cement kilns, and lightweight aggre - • **Area Source Program –**  Under the gat e kilns. The f inal MA CT s t andar d U rban Air T o xics Str a tegy , EP A is is es timated t o fur ther r educe mer cur y developing standards to control emis air emissions from all hazardous waste sions of toxic air pollutants (hazardous combustors by an additional 39 per- air pollutants or HAP) from area cent (fr om 2.4 tons/y ear t o 1 .5 tons/ year). 42 **Timeline: Implementation by 2008** sources. Area sources are those sources that emit less than 1 0 t ons annually of a single HAP or less than 25 tons • **MA CT St**  **andar d f**  **or Chlor -**  **Alk ali**  annually of a combination of HAP

. **Sect or –**  In December 2003, EP A promulgated a rule to regulate emis- The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires sions of mer cur y fr om mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants. 43 Mer cur y-cell EP A to identify a lis t of at least 30 HAP that pose the greatest potential chlor-alkali plants produce chlorine health threat in urban areas, and in and caustic soda (used to neutralize the 1 999 s t r a tegy , EP A identified 33 acidic com pounds) using mer cur y cells. such pollutants. Of those 33 identified The rule will also require rigorous pollut ants, EP A de termined that 30 work practice standards that will stem from area source emissions. r educe mer cur y emissions fr om fugi- Through three separate listings (includ tiv e sour ces. Although EP A is no t able ing a lis t in the U rban Air T oxics to accurately quantify the reductions Str a tegy), EP A has identif ied a to t al of associated with these work practice 70 area source categories which repre standards, the requirements will sent 90 percent of the aggregate r educe mer cur y air emissions indus tr y - emissions of the 30 listed area source wide. **Timeline: Implementation by Decem-** HAP . Of these 70 ar ea sour ce catego **ber 2006** ries, 1 6 ha v

e been r e gulat ed, and EP A is currently collecting data and infor- • **MA CT St**  **andar d f**  **or Iron and S t**  **eel** mation for many other source catego**F**

**oundries –** In 2004 EP A issued a ries. **Timeline: Ongoing** final rule to reduce toxic air emissions, including mer cur y , fr om ir on and st eel • **Rule on Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs)** foundries. Iron and steel foundries **–** In 2006, EP A plans t o pr opose a melt scrap, ingot, and other forms of comprehensive rule for steel mills that32 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

use EAFs to address emissions of mer cur y , lead, and o ther me t als and organic hazar dous air pollut ants. EP A will also pur sue volunt ar y pr ograms in parallel with the development of r egulations to ensur e mer cur y emis sions reductions. These actions collectiv ely should gr eatly r educe mer cur y air emissions from EAFs and other scrap consumers over the course of the next 1 0 y ear s. **T imeline: Pr** **opose rule in 2006**

• **Mer cur**  **y A u** 

**tomobile Switc hes**  **–** Many pre-2003 domestic passenger v

ehicles ha v

e mer cur y-cont aining switches in convenience light assem blies and anti-lock braking systems (ABS). Building on and coordinating with successful state and local automo tiv e switc h r emo val ef f o r ts, EP A hopes to develop a partnership with automo bile dismantlers, scrap shredders, steelmakers, and the automotive indus tr y to r emov e mer cur y switc hes fr om scrapped autos in the U .S. prior to disassembly, shredding, and melting in steelmaking furnaces. **Timeline: 2006**

• **Char act**  **erize Mining R eleases –**  EP A is ex amining the issue of mer cur ybearing materials being placed on land at active gold mines and any subse quent releases which are not covered by TRI (air , sur face, wa ter , or gr ound water) associated with that placement. An ef f o r t is under wa y t o assess the releases and their potential impact to determine if further action is warranted. **Timeline: 2006**

• **Char act**  **erize Mer cur**  **y Disc har**  **ges to Sur**  **f ace W**  **a**

**ter –** As mentioned in the pr ogr ess t o dat e section, EP A recently developed a new analytical method for use in water discharge permitting pr ograms that will im pr ov e EP A

’ s understanding of point source mercur y contributions to sur face wa ter s . Based on that inf ormation, EP A is providing guidance to Publicly Owned T

r eatment W o r ks (PO T Ws) on ho w t o c haracterize sour ces of mer cur y to the collection system and how to develop mer cur y minimization measur es wher e appr opriat e. Mer cur y in POT W collection systems may come from the medical sector , dent al of f ices, sc hools, and cer t ain indus tries. EP A is continu ing to explore opportunities for pollution prevention in the dental sector and other sources. **Timeline: Ongoing** 

• **Issue Mer cur**  **y W a** 

**ter Quality Crite****** **rion Im plement**  **ation Guidance –** EP A currently intends to issue implementation guidance to states and tribes for the f ish-tissue-based mer cur y wa ter quality criterion and how to incorpo rate it into permits and TMDLs. Once states and tribes adopt the water quality criterion into their water quality standards, officials can incorpo rate appropriate controls where necessar y into TMDLs and w a ter shed management decisions. State environ mental officials can incorporate appr opriat e contr ols wher e necessar y into permits and enforce these re quirements. **Timeline: 2007**

• **Im pr**  **o**

**v**

**e T ools f**  **or T r** 

**a**

**c**

**king Mer cur**  **y in Fish Tissue** 

**–** EP A continues t o improve its models for tracking me th ylmer cur y in f ish tissue and air deposition tr ends. 45 EP A will also begin to estimate the expected effectiveness of proposed Hg source reduction activities in terms of reduced fish tissue meth ylmer cur y concentrations. This effort may involve the continued ev

olution of the Mer cur y Maps model-I. Addressing Mercury Releases - 33 ing framework, and its integration amalgam is sent to responsible recywith sophisticated air deposition clers who can adequately minimize model outputs (e.g., CMAQ [Commu - mer cur y r eleases by k eeping the nity Multiscale Air Quality]). In addi - amalgam waste out of the wastewater tion, EP A will continue t o r e fine its air stream and out of municipal and emission inventories to provide an medical incinerators. **Timeline: In 2006** assessment of emission reductions gained through implementation of its • **Fluor escent Lam**  **p Recy cling –**  EP A is r e gulat o r y pr ograms. **T imeline: T**  **o be**  administering a grant program to **determined** incr ease the r ecy cling ra t e of mer cur y-

• **Develop Alternative Approaches and T** 

**ools f or Identifying Mer**  **cur y Im**  **pair****** **ments and De v** 

**eloping Mer cur**  **y TMDLs**  **–** EP A will w o r k with s t a t es, containing lamps. Grants are used to create lamp recycling outreach pro grams targeting commercial and indus trial user s of mer cur y -cont aining lamps. State environmental agencies, tribes, and stakeholders to determine tribes, non-profit organizations, lamp how best to use TMDLs to provide a manufacturers, and recyclers are all basis f or r educing mer cur y r eleases t o partners in implementing this prowa ter , including those fr om air deposi - gram. EP A is curr ently pr o viding tion, to meet state water quality national coordination of these efforts s t andar ds and Clean W a ter Act goals. as well as technical expertise on regulaEP A will pr ovide updat ed mer cur y tor y issues. EP A will build upon the deposition modeling results to states results of this grant program to infor use in TMDLs, including the crease the national rate of bulb recymajor sour ces of mer cur y deposition cling. EP A is also wo r king with Re to eac h s t a t e. EP A will also evaluat e gions and states to develop guidance appr oac hes f or identifying mer cur y on the conditions under which drum im pairments and dev eloping mer cur y top crushing of waste lamps can be TMDLs, such as regional-scale TMDLs permitted without unacceptable and approaches that acknowledge mer cur y r eleases or danger t o per sons t r ong s t a t e mer cur y r eduction pr o - nel who operate the crushers. **Timeline:** grams, in order to make progress **In 2006**

• toward attaining state water quality standards. **Timeline: Ongoing Promote The Proper Collection and**  **Recycling of Dental Office Amalgam W**  **a**

**ste –** EP A is curr ently developing a • **Analyze Sector s and T**  **r**

**ends f o** 

**r Mer**  **cur y R**  **eleases in the TRI/NEI Dat**  **abases –** EP A will continue to evaluate the “other” smaller sources, as appropriate, that cumulatively release dental office amalgam recycling signif icant amounts of mer cur y t o the program called its “gray bag” program. en vir onment. EP A will monit or This program will assist dentists in exis ting dat a on how mer cur y is properly collecting and managing managed onsite and/or off-site and dental amalgam wastes generated in will examine potential sectors for their of f ices to minimize mer cur y expanding v olunt ar y mer cur y r educr eleases to air , land, and wa ter . This tion programs. **Timeline: Ongoing** program also will ensure that dental34 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryII. Addressing Mercury Uses in Products and Processes - 35



# II. ADDRESSIN G MERCURY USES IN PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES

OVERVIEW Addr essing uses of mer cur y in pr oducts and processes is a component of preventing mer cur y r eleases to air , water , or land. These releases may occur during manufacturing and industrial processes, or during the disposal or r ecy cling of mer cur ycontaining products and wastes. Address ing mer cur y use in pr oducts also r educes the demand f or mer cur y b y pr oduct manufacturers, thereby reducing demand f or new mer cur y mining. Mer cur y mining still occurs in other countries and causes further releases to the global environ ment. Addressing demand for and use of mer cur y is critical to br eaking the cycle of

Uses Can Contribute to Releases Mercury use in products can lead to mercury releases through:

• Manufacturing of product

• S pills/breakage

• Recycling/collection

• Disposal mer cur y being transf err ed from one environmental medium to ano ther

. EP A

’s long-t erm goal is to reduce risks associated with mer cur y . EP A r ecognizes that to reduce risks associ a t ed with mer cur y , the Agency must first understand what contributes to the risk and what the appropriate mechanisms of risk reduction might be. EP A will t a ke action to identify exposed populations, minimize exposures through outreach efforts, and appropriately address anthropogenic releases. As part of its s t ra tegy , EP A will assess mer cur y sour ces of concern and will: focus on uses that would lead to risk, where cost-effective substitutes exis t ; pr omo t e r educing mer cur y in pr o cesses and products where benefits of such reduction would justify the cost, even where cost-effective substitutes do not exist; and work to identify and encourage36 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

FIGURE 3. T otal 2001 U.S. Mercury Use in Products 2

T

o tal: 245 metric tons

34 metric tons 14% 17 metric tons 7% 103 metric tons 42% 21 metric tons 9%

69 metric tons 28% development of alternatives to essential uses of mer cur y that lead t o risk

. **Sour ces**  **.** In 1 980, the thr ee larges t U .S. indus trial uses of mer cur y we r e in batteries (1 ,052 me tric tons), the c hlor -alk ali manu facturing process (358 metric tons), and paint (326 me tric tons). 1 Mer cur y use in products accounted for an estimated 245 m e tric t ons in 200 1

. As Figur e 3 illus trates, the dominant use of mer cur y in pr oducts in 200 1 was in switc hes and wiring devices at 42 per cent (1 03 me tric tons), f ollowe d by measuring and control devices at 28 percent (69 metric tons), dental amalgam at 1 4 per cent (3 4 me tric tons), and electri cal lighting at 9 per cent (2 1 metric t ons). Mer cur y is also f ound in laboratories, including school science labs. Breakage or spillage of mer cur y supplies and mer cur ycontaining lab equipment creates the potential for inhalation exposure to airborne mer cur y indoor s. Mer cur y in schools can pose a significant exposure concern for children and adults. In 200 1 , the larges t use of mer cur y in manufacturing processes was by the chloralk ali indus tr y (pr oducers of c hlorine and caustic soda), estimated at 38 metric tons, or 1 2 per cent of ov er all mer cur y use b y U .S. indus tr y . 3 **Progress to date .**  Over the past two decades there has been a dramatic drop in mer cur y use b y indus tries in the United States, decreasing 83 per cent be tw een 1 980 and 1 9 9 7, fr om 2,225 me tric tons to 38 1 metric tons (see Figur e 4). 4 This reduction in use was due in large part to state and congressional limits placed on mer cur y use in batteries, EP A

’s r e gulat o r y ban on mer cur y in paint, closur e of some mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali manufacturing plants, and pr ogr ess made under the U .S./ Canada Gr eat Lak es Binational T o xics Str a t egy , a v olunt ar y agr eement whic h se t forth a goal of 50 percent reduction in the delibera t e use of mer cur y nation wide by 2006. 5 The lam p industr y has made significant pr ogr ess in r educing use of mer cur y . The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) reported that its members h a v

e signif icantly r educed use of mer cur y in lamps while increasing their production of lam ps. In 1 990, NEMA es timat es that its lamp members used 23.6 tons of mer cur y in slightly f ewer than 500 million mer cur y-cont aining lam ps. Af ter a con cer ted ef f o r t to r educe mer cur y use, this mer cur y usage declined t o 7 t ons by 2003. In the same timeframe, sales by NEMA lamp members have increased to 650 million mer cur y-cont aining lam ps. The Association of Mer cur y and Lam p R ecyclers reports that lamp recycling has incr eased fr om f e wer than 1 0 million lam ps in 1 990 to 1 56 million lam ps in 2003. 6II. Addressing Mercury Uses in Products and Processes - 37

As a r esult of a v olunt ar y commitment to mer cur y r eduction made by the U .S. Chlorine Institute under the Great Lakes Binational T o xics Str a tegy , the c hlor -alk ali indus tr y has made signif icant pr ogr ess in r educing its mer cur y use since 1 995. The U .S. Chlorine Institut e’s Ninth Annual Repor t to EP A sho wed a 9 1 per cent r eduction bet ween 1 995 and 2005 in mer cur y used in the U .S. pr oduction of chlorine and caustic soda, after adjusting for shut down facilities. 7 EP A

’s Hospit als f or a Health y En vir on ment (H2E) program is a partnership among EP A , the American Hospit al Association (AHA), the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm to encourage hospitals to eliminate the use and pur c hase of mer cur y-cont ain ing products such as measurement and control devices. 8 Under H2E, these health care facilities have pledged to eliminate mer cur y use and w a st e whenever possible by 2005 and to reduce all types of waste by 20 1 0

. S t ate, T ribal, and Local Government Use Reduction Efforts Many state, tribal, and local governments ha v

e been leader s in r educing mer cur y use. States have developed innovative mer cur y use and r elease r eduction la w s and regulations that supplement, and in some cases pr ovide a model f o r , national efforts. For example, all of the New England states have adopted legislation to r educe mer cur y use in pr oducts. 9 States, tribes, and local governments have played a key role in outreach to the busi ness community and to the general public about the importance of properly dispos ing of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts and

FIGURE 4. U.S. Mercury Product and Process Use T rends38 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury about alternatives to such products. Many states and local governments have spon sor ed mer cur y collection/r eplacement programs for businesses and households f or pr oducts suc h as mer cur y thermom eters. They have also made special efforts to educate and encourage hospitals and sc hools to eliminate the use of mer cur y and mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts. F o r example, over the past few years, the northeast states, in conjunction with the eastern Canadian provinces, have collected ov er 2,000 pounds of mer cur y fr om cleanout ef f o r ts at ov er 200 sc hools. 10 These efforts have been key to the progress made to date on reducing mercur y use in sc hool science laborat ories. Likewise, several states such as Maine, T

e x as, and localities suc h as Alameda County, California have built green purchasing requirements that specify the use of non-mer cur y alternativ es into their state procurement systems. **Future focus .**  During the next ten years, EP A will f ocus on uses that would lead t o risk, where cost-effective substitutes exist; pr omo te r educing mer cur y in pr ocesses and products where benefits of such reductions would justify the costs, even where cost-effective substitutes do not exist; and work to identify and encourage development of alternatives to essential uses of mer cur y that lead to risk b y w o rking with s t ate and tribal par tner s, indus tr y , and non-governmental organizations. The Agency’s use reduction activities will be conducted in the context of the global market for commodity-grade elemental mer cur y and the need f or global use reductions. (See Section III for further discussion of the mer cur y commodity mar ke t.) EP A will continue to suppor t and build on successful state and local efforts by funding select ed mer cur y pr ojects, pr ovid ing inf ormation about mer cur y sour ces and reduction opportunities, and coordi nating joint efforts to further progress on addr essing mer cur y use. EP A will also continue to work with other countries and international organizations to address global demand f or and use of mer cur y as discussed further in Section V on international mer cur y sour ces. Need for a National Mercury Use Database Reliable and publicly available data on mer cur y use is a pr er eq uisit e to gauging the success of EP A initiatives to r educe the use of mer cur y . In 1 998 the U .S. Geologi cal Sur v e y discontinued its annual r epor ting of mer cur y use, due to lo w v olunt ar y r esponse fr om mer cur y-using manufacturers. More recently, other limited sources of mer cur y use inf ormation ha v

e emerged: (1) the U .S. Chlorine Institut e’s annual r epor t t o EP A on mer cur y usage by the c hlor -alk ali industr y; 11 and (2) the N o r theast W a s t e Management Of f icials’ Association’s (NEWMO A) dat abase on mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts, housed in NEWMO A

’s Int er s t ate Mer cur y Education and Reduction Clearinghouse (IMER C). 12 The IMER C dat abase cont ains annual dat a (beginning with 200 1) r e quired from manufacturers by the states of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island on national sales of specific mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts that ar e sold in these f our s t ates. The IMER C dat abase is updated ev er y thr ee y ear s. The base y ear f or dat a is 200 1; com panies ar e r e q uir ed to r epor t on 200 4 dat a in 2005. EP A is evaluating how best to build upon this information as it is developing its database f or mer cur y use in pr oducts and pr ocesses nationwide. A national use database will enable EP A and its par tners to evaluat e the effectiveness of its outreach activities.II. Addressing Mercury Uses in Products and Processes - 39 Priority Activities for Reducing Mer cury Uses T

o fur ther pr ogr ess in r educing risks associated with mer cur y use, EP A will continue to pursue a number of priority activities. These activities are based on considerations of the q uantity of mer cur y used b y specif ic indus tr y categories; opportunities to provide national leadership; and opportunities to work in partnership with industries, other federal agencies, state, tribal and local governments, other institutions, and public interest groups.

Industrial Processes

• **T r** 

**a**

**c**

**k R eductions by Mer**  **cur y** 

**-Cell Chlor**  **- Alk**  **ali F acilities**  **–** EP A will continue to monitor the use of mercur y b y the c hlor -alk ali indus tr y thr ough the EP A/U .S. Chlorine Ins titut e v olunt ar y agr eement on use r epor ting f or the r emaining U .S. mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants. **Timeline: Ongoing through 2006** Mercury-Containing Products

• **Further Reduce Risks Associated with Mer**  **cur y Use Using T**  **S**

**C**

**A**

**A uthori** **** **ties and V olunt**  **ar**

**y Mec hanisms –**  EP A will focus its new reduction efforts on switches, relays, and measuring devices because these sectors represent the majority of mer cur y use in pr oducts, and cost-effective alternatives are available for many uses in these categories. EP A will conduct a pr elimi nar y mar ke t analy sis of mer cur y switches, relays, and measurement devices to identify candidate product manufacturers to partner with the A gency to r educe mer cur y use. Build ing upon successful st ate r e gulator y pr ograms, EP A will pur sue fur ther use reductions in this product area using T S CA and v olunt ar y mec hanisms. **Timeline: Proposed auto switch significant new use rule in 2006** 

• **D e** 

**v**

**elop Dat abase to T**  **r**

**a**

**c**

**k Reduc****** **tions in Mer cur**  **y Use by Ke y Sector**  **s**

**–** EP A is com piling and assessing inf ormation on mer cur y use and substitutes from existing data sources. The Agency will explore using various mechanisms to improve the compre hensiveness and reliability of its national dat abase on mer cur y use, supply , and substitutes. This information also will allow EP A t o evaluat e the ef f ective ness of its outreach activities on mercur y-cont aining products. **T imeline: Dat**  **a collection is ongoing; database in 2007** 

• **Promote Procurement of Non Mer**  **cur y Products by F**  **ederal A gen** **** **cies –** EP A is com piling a lis t of alternativ e non-mer cur y products with a special emphasis on those that contain non-mer cur y switc hes, r ela ys, and measuring devices. EP A will com pile and convey information—such as federal, state, and local bid specifications—to federal purchasers using its Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) Dat abase. 13 The intent is to harness the large federal buying power to incr ease demand f or non-mer cur y pr oducts. EP A will also make suc h information available to other interested purchasers, including state, tribal, and local governments; large industrial purchasers currently using mer cur y switc hes and r ela y s (suc h as manufacturers of cars, airplanes, and appliances); institutional purchasers such as hospitals and schools; and individual consumers. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• **P a** 

**r**

**tner with A u** 

**tomobile Manuf actur** **** **er**

**s t o** 

**Eliminate Mer cur**  **y –** EP A will work with the auto manufacturers on40 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

additional mer cur y use r eduction and elimination of mer cur y from pr oducts, such as high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights. EP A will pr ovide aut o manufacturers with information on non-mer cur y alt ernatives t o auto components through its Green Suppli er s N e tw or k , an EP A par tnership effort with manufacturers and their supply c hains. 14 **Timeline: Enhance par tner**  **** **ship efforts on auto products in 2006**

• **R educe Mer**  **cur y in Health Care**  **F**

**acilities –**  EP A will continue par tnerships with the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm to encourage hospitals to eliminate the pur c hase of mer cur y containing products such as measure ment and control devices, and properly dispose of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts curr ently in health car e f acilities. EP A will expand these efforts by recruiting additional facilities. **Timeline: Recruit 2,000 new facilities by 2007** 

• **Pr omo**  **te Mer cur**  **y R eduction in**  **Schools –** Building upon the successful wo r k of the mer cur y-in-sc hools pr ojects thr oughout the countr y b y s t ates and EP A r egions, EP A will continue t o work with school administrators and policy makers to promote the substitu tion of mer cur y with en vir onment ally preferable chemicals through procure ment policy guidelines and the use of gr een c hemis tr y; the r emo val of element al mer cur y , mer cur y r eagents, and mer cur y w a s t e pr oducts fr om school laboratories; the replacement of mer cur y-cont aining devices with saf er non-mer cur y -cont aining devices in all school facilities; and the use of software to educate school maintenance workers and decisionmakers about potential environmental hazards in sc hools and wa y s t o r educe them. EP A is developing a handbook, “Chemical Management for Schools: Recom mended Actions for Administrators,” which will help schools safely manage c hemicals, including mer cur y . This guidance will help school officials ensure the health and safety of the students and school employees. **Timeline: Finalize Chemicals Management Document in 2006** 

• **Schools Chemical Cleanout Cam****** **paign (SC3) –** Existing stocks of outdated, unknown, excessive or unneces sarily hazardous chemicals—are present in sc hools acr oss the countr y . These chemicals can pose safety and health risks to students and staff, and a number of widely reported incidents involving such chemicals have resulted in school closures and costly clean-ups. T

o r educe the number of these inci dents, the Agency has initiated the Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) 15 which promotes removal of existing stocks of hazardous chemicals fr om secondar y sc hools; saf e c hemical management; and national awareness. The ultimate goal of the SC3 is to create a chemically safer school envi ronment in which chemicals are purchased wisely, stored safely, handled by trained personnel, used responsibly, and disposed of properly. In the summer of 200 4, EP A launc hed ten SC3 pilo ts, one in eac h EP A r egion. EP A pr o vided funding f or an additional eight pilots in 2005. Outreach materials are now available on the w ebsite at www.epa.go v/sc3. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• **Pr omot**  **e Mer cur**  **y Pr oduct Use**  **R**

**eduction P a** 

**r**

**tnerships –**  Man yII. Addressing Mercury Uses in Products and Processes - 41

curr ent mer cur y uses in pr oducts ha v

e cos t-ef f ective, mer cur y -fr ee alterna tiv es. EP A is curr ently in viting com panies t o v olunt arily commit t o mer cur y product use reduction and phaseout goals and to become par tners in EP A

’ s N ational P a r tnership f or En vironmen tal Priorities (NPEP) Program. As a com ponent of these par tner ships, EP A is pr omo ting mer cur y-cont aining product take-back/recycling programs and providing technical assistance to indus tr y in ac hieving their NPEP goals. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• **Pr omo**  **te the Mer cur**  **y Challenge –**  EP A is curr ently in viting com panies t o commit to establish inventories of mer cur y; r emo v

e mer cur y and mercur y-cont aining eq uipment fr om their plants; and institute purchasing poli cies to r educe mer cur y use. This mer cur y c hallenge is a com ponent of the NPEP pr ogram. 1642 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryIII. Managing Commodity-Grade Mercury Supplies - 43



# III. MAN A GIN G C OMMODIT Y

G R ADE MERCURY SUPPLIES

OVERVIEW The Agency expects that an excess supply of element al, commodity-grade mer cur y will emerge on the market over the coming y ear s as various secondar y sour ces of mer cur y—especially the expected phase out of mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants— ov er t a k e a shrinking demand f or mer cur ycontaining products and industrial use of mer cur y . As a r esult, there will be an incr easing need t o saf ely manage mer cur y supplies for the long term. Ultimately, it will be important to look at ways to permanently “r etir e” most supplies of mer cur y that will eventually have little or no economic value. EP A estimates that curr ent w orld demand f or mer cur y is approximately 2,000 metric tons per year (mt/yr). Although highly variable from one year to the next, the amount of mer cur y a vailable in commer ce globally is also es timated at 2,000 mt/yr

. 1 Other estimates prepared for the European Union (EU) indicate that the global mer cur y supply ma y be ov er 3,300 me tric tons. 2 It is important to note that supply and demand numbers for countries outside the U .S. and Eur ope are v e r y rough estimates. In the absence of efforts to r e tir e mer cur y supplies, ther e is a danger that supplied mer cur y will f ind uses that have already been banned or elimi nated in some countries, particularly in the developing world, possibly leading to unnecessar y r eleases. **Sources .**  In recent years, approximately one-half of the w orld mer cur y supply has come fr om mer cur y mines in Spain, Algeria, and K yrgyzs t a n (although Spain is no longer mining mer cur y). China has also mined mer cur y to mee t its domes tic demand. 3 There have been no activ e mer cur y mines in the U .S. since 1 990. The r emaining half of the w orld’s mer cur y supply comes from second ar y sour ces, suc h as indus trial wastes and scrap products, as byproduct from gold mines in the U .S. and abr oad, and fr om44 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury closing mer cur y -cell c hlor -alk ali plants. (DNSC) published its f inal Mer cur y The secondar y mer cur y pr oduced fr om Management Environmental Impact these other sources is price-insensitive Statement regarding the disposition of its because the mer cur y r esults fr om en vir on - mer cur y . 5 The DNSC decided to st or e its mental regulations and polices that require mer cur y at one location f or at leas t a 40 - or encour age r ecov e r y (e.g., R CRA land year period. In addition, the Department disposal restrictions), and from industrial of Energy has a kno wn supply of 1 ,306 pr ocess con v

e r sions t o non-mer cur y tons of mer cur y . processes. Environmental regulations and polices that r e q uir e mer cur y r ecov e r y can State and local governments have prooverride the market’s natural tendency moted public and private collection over the long term to match supply with programs for both bulk elemental merdemand. Whereas the long-term trend for cur y and discar ded mer cur y-cont aining mer cur y mining has been one of decline, products. Some businesses are also collectsecondar y pr oduction has r emained ing un w anted mer cur y or mer cur y -con relatively constant. It may even increase as taining products (e.g., thermostats). The mer cur y continues to be r ecy cled/r ecov - to t al amount of mer cur y collected er ed and mor e mer cur y -cell c hlor -alk ali thr ough these pr ograms is unclear . Mos t plants close, thereby making more mer- of this mer cur y is sent to r e tor t er s, and it cur y a vailable t o the secondar y mar ke t. is lik ely that the supply of mer cur y will increase due to successful collection The most significant factor driving the pr ograms and ef f o r ts t o eliminate mer cur y timing of a global mer cur y sur plus is the from schools, laboratories, and businesses. rate at whic h r emaining U .S. and international mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants close The Environmental Council of the States and liquidate their stocks of some 22,000 (ECOS) and the Quicksilver Caucus m e tric tons. Of these s t oc ks, mer cur y-cell (QSC), a coalition of state associations c hlor -alk ali plants in the U .S. account f o r concerned with mer cur y pollution, ha v

e about 2,600 me tric tons of mer cur y indicated that states do not have the s t oc ks. 4 Mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali plants ar e resources or desire to manage surplus being closed at the end of their useful life mer cur y f or the long term and ar e lookin the U .S. and abr oad due to the ing to the federal government to address indus tr y’s con v

e rsion t o non-mer cur y this issue. 6 Environmental groups and the technologies, a shrinking customer base, U .S. Chlorine Ins titute ar e also looking to and high energy costs. the federal government to address or assume responsibility for all private sector **Progress to date.** The Department of commodity-grade mer cur y that exceeds Def ense (DoD) has mer cur y s t oc ks that ar e U .S. demand. being stored. The DoD has 4,436 metric tons of mer cur y in its s t r a t egic s t oc kpile. In addition, EP A

’s Of f ice of Resear c h and DoD has sold some of its mer cur y s t ocks in Development conducted research and the pas t, but since 1 9 9 4 DoD has been published a report in 2005 on the techni s t oring its mer cur y in r esponse t o r e q ues ts cal and economic feasibility of selected fr om EP A , s t a t es, and non-go v

ernment al land disposal technologies in a monofill organizations (NGOs). On April 30, 2004, context, as compared to above-ground the Defense National Stockpile Center s t orage f or element al mer cur y . 7III. Managing Commodity-Grade Mercury Supplies - 45

**Future focus.** The issue of whether the federal government, states, or the private sector should take responsibility for managing commodity-grade mer cur y supplies from state and private sources is an important policy decision. Decisionsregarding the disposition of commoditygrade mer cur y should be made in light of the global mer cur y mar ke t ; dat a and r esear c h needs; public policy , s t atutor y , and economic considerations; and the views of Congress, states, tribes, and non governmental organizations. Ultimately, it will be important to look at ways to permanently “retire” non-federally owned or managed commodity-grade mer cur y that will ev entually ha v

e little or even negative economic value. Disposal of commodity-grade mer cur y would r e q uir e r e gulat o r y c hanges, as curr ent r egulations under the R esour ce Conser vation and Recov e r y Act (R CRA) r e q uir e high con centration mer cur y wast es to be r e tor t ed f or mer cur y r ecov e r y and r euse. 8 Additional inf ormation on mer cur y supplies and f l ow s would allow f

or mor e informed policy choices and decisions on this issue, and to better estimate when the global mer cur y sur plus ma y occur . EP A , states, tribes, and the private sector must continue efforts, domestically and internationally, to address exposure, potential reduction strategies, and the quantity of mer cur y that will ultimately need t o be stored or land disposed permanently. Priority Activities for Addressing Mercury Supplies **A ddr**  **ess Dat a Gaps on Mer**  **cur y Supplies** 

• **Publish Initial Report and Assemble Existing Data on Domestic and Global**  **Commodity Mer cur**  **y Pr oduction and**  **Use –** EP A will explor e with indus tr y and other federal agencies ways to fill information gaps on annual production and use of commodity mer cur y . **Timeline: 2006 Safe Storage Practices for Disposal of**  **Mer cur**  **y** • **Establish a Process to Address Mer****** **cur y Sur**  **plus Issues –** In 2006, EP A will work with other agencies to initiate a process with technical experts and interested parties to discuss op tions for addressing the expected mer cur y sur plus o v

er the next 1 0–30 years, and how to encourage the phase out of mer cur y mining abr oad. **Timeline: Initiate discussion in 2006**46 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryIV. Communicating to the Public about Mercury Exposure Risks - 47



# IV

. C OMMUNIC A TIN G TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT MERCURY EXPOSURE RISK S

OVERVIEW While the A gency is pursuing regulat or y and v olunt ar y activities aimed at industrial r eduction of mer cur y r eleases and uses, EP A will also incr ease its risk communication and outreach activities to help people a

v

oid or r educe their exposur e to mer cur y in the near term. The most common way people in the U .S. are exposed to mer cur y is b y eating fish cont aining meth ylmer cur y (an organic mer cur y com pound). Con sumption of fish with higher methylmercur y lev els can lead t o elevated lev els of me th ylmer cur y in the bloodstr eam of unborn babies and young children and ma y harm their dev eloping ner v ous sys t em. 1 The primar y t ool f or r eac hing and educating affected populations has been through fish consumption advisories issued b y s t ates, tribes, and FD A

. F o r ex am ple, in Mar c h 2004, EP A and FD A issued a joint federal fish consumption advisor y f o r mer cur y in fish and shellf ish that helps consumers understand the benefits of fish consumption, the risks of consumption to certain sub-populations (e.g., groups with routinely high consump tion), and mer cur y lev els in cer t ain f ish. Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet, since they contain high quality protein and other essential nutri ents, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children’s proper growth and develop ment. Research shows that most people’s fish consumption does not cause a health concern. EP A and FD A ha v

e issued f ish consum p tion advice to help consumers understand the connection between the benefits of f ish and possible risks of meth ylmer cur y48 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

What Y ou Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advice for W omen Who Might Become Pregnant, W omen Who Are Pregnant, Nursing Mothers, and Y oung Children

1

. Do not eat:

• Shark

• Swordfish

• King Mackerel

• Tilefish They cont ain high levels of mercury

. 2

. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury

. • Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in

mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.

• Another commonly eaten fish, albacore (“white”) tuna has

more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week. 3

. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don’t consume any other fish during that week. Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions. For more information, please visit: www .epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html (See full text of Joint Fish Advisory in Appendix A)

exposur e. Elevat ed me th ylmer cur y in the blood stream of unborn babies and young c hildren ma y harm the ner v ous sy s t em, impairing the child’s ability to learn and process information. Certain sub-populations may be at higher risk than the general population because of their rou tinely high consumption of fish and shellfish (e.g., tribal and other subsistence fishers and their families who rely heavily on locally caught fish for the majority of their diet). Although people are exposed to methylmer cur y via the die t a r y r oute, ther e ar e also some non-die t a r y sour ces of mer cur y exposure. Many consumers are not aware that mer cur y has been used f o r y ear s in common household products such as thermostats. Releases from the manufactur e of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts and inappropriate disposal of these products h a v

e contribut ed to mer cur y entering the environment and ultimately the food chain. Misuse of or accidental breakage of some products can create indoor air health risks and expose consumers to danger ous levels of mer cur y . In addition, certain cultural or religious uses of mercur y ma y also r esult in harmful mer cur y exposure. The number of individuals exposed in the U .S. in this wa y is v e r y small. The Agency will make it a priority to provide consumers with reliable risk inf ormation about mer cur y exposur e so that they can make informed choices about the fish they eat and the products they use. **Pr ogress to dat**  **e.**

EP A has dir ected mos t of its mer cur y risk communication activities towar d r a ising a w ar eness about die t ar y practices. The FD A

-EP A national advisor y , What Y ou N eed to Kno w A bout Mercur y in Fish and Shellfish , provides advice for women who might become pregnant; women who are pregnant; nursing moth er s; and young c hildr en. 2 This advisor y r epr esents the f i r s t time FD A and EP A have combined their advice into a single unif orm advisor y . During the summer and fall of 2004, the two agencies distrib -IV. Communicating to the Public about Mercury Exposure Risks - 49

u t ed br oc hur es about the advisor y to approximately 200,000 medical providers in the U .S. In Sep t ember 2005, EP A sponsor ed the Eighth Annual National Forum on Contaminants in Fish (“Fish Forum”). The forum provided an opportunity for people who have an interest in the subject of advisories, from both the public and private sectors, to discuss scientific and policy issues, risks and benefits, and communication strategies associated with exposure to chemical contaminants in sport- and subsistence-caught fish and shellfish. In September 2005, the 13th s t r aight year , EP A r eleased its N ational Lis ting of Fish A dvisories, a summar y of information on locally-issued fish adviso ries and safe-eating guidelines. 3 This inf ormation is pr o vided to EP A annually by states, territories, and tribes. States and tribes issue fish consumption advisories if elevated concentrations of c hemicals suc h as mer cur y ar e f ound in local fish. States monitor their waters by sampling fish tissue for persistent pollutants that bioaccumulate. States issue their advisories and guidelines voluntarily and h a v

e fl exibility in what criteria they use and how the data are collected. As a result, there are significant variations in the number of waters tested, the pollutants tes t ed f o r , and the thr eshold f o r issuing advisories. Based on self-reporting, the national trend is for states to monitor dif f e r ent water s eac h year , generally without retesting waters monitored in previous years. 4 As new waters are tested and results are added to previous years’ findings, the number of fish advisories continues to rise. EP A makes inf ormation on the fish advisories, as well as Fish Forum proceedings, easily accessible to the public on its website. Although mos t of EP A

’s risk communication efforts have been directed to increas ing a w ar eness of mer cur y in the f ood chain, the Agency has also investigated non-die t a r y sour ces of mer cur y exposur e about which the public should be aware. Risk communication has been conducted in conjunction with mer cur y r eduction activities, such as school clean-outs or thermometer collection programs. In man y cases, critical mer cur y outr eac h to schools and communities would not o ther wise occur without EP A assist ance. F or ex am ple, EP A

’s Region 6 has identi fied a particular need for such support in communities on the U .S./Mexico bor der

. EP A

’s national ef f o r ts on mer cur y risk communication have been aimed at making information widely available to the public and at co-sponsoring national conferences that bring together people fr om acr oss the countr y t o shar e inf ormation on mer cur y risk communication. A unique exposure concern is raised by ritualis tic use of mer cur y in cer t ain cultural communities. For this reason, in Januar y 1 999, EP A and the U .S. A gency f or T oxic Subs t ances and Disease R egis tr y50 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury (A T SDR) con v

ened the T ask F o r ce on Ritualis tic Uses of Mer cur y to r ecommend an appropriate course of action regarding the use of element al mer cur y as par t of certain folk practices and religious tradi tions. The T ask F o r ce pr epar ed a r epor t in 2002 which recommended approaches that rely primarily on community outreach and education activities to inf orm mer cur y supplier s and the public about mer cur y’s risks, and encourage the use of safer alternatives. 5 In Januar y 2005, EP A launc hed its consoli dat ed w ebsite on mer cur y , www.epa.go v/ mer cur y . 6 This new website, organized b y subject matter and geographic region, provides one location to find information about mer cur y in a useful f ormat f or the American public. Because the most effectiv e mer cur y risk communication activities will be carried out at the state and local level, another important contribution to mer cur y risk communication is the pr o vi sion of grants, cooperative agreements, and other types of funding for state, tribal, and local mer cur y risk communication activities. States, tribes, and local governments have also conducted outreach activities in conjunction with most of the mer cur y collection programs mentioned in Sections I and II on addr essing mer cur y r eleases and uses in processes and products. In order to get a high rate of participation in these v olunt ar y pr ograms, it is im por t ant to educate the public on the risks of mer cur y exposur e, the need f or pr oper disposal of mer cur y -cont aining pr oducts, and the a vailability of saf e, non-mer cur y alternatives. For example, in an innovative project, the state of Minnesota trained a dog t o locate mer cur y in buildings b y sense of smell. Minneso t a’s Mer cur y- F r ee Zone Program is modeled after a Swedish pr ogram that uses dogs t o detect mer cur y in sc hools. 7 Sc hools that t a ke the mer cur yfree pledge are eligible to receive a visit fr om Clancy the mer cur y dog. Clancy has received media coverage which has raised general awareness of the dangers of mer cur y and the need to dispose of mer cur y r esponsibly . St ates, tribes, and local governments are in the best position to develop material tailored to local populations. For example, the state of W ashington is using an EP A grant to conduct a sur v e y of f ish consum ption among Asian/P acif ic Islander populations in the Puget Sound region. As part of this project, the state will identify community groups to educate these populations in a culturally sensitive manner by tailoring messages and translating documents. **F**

**uture f ocus**  **.** As long as mer cur y is present in the environment and in food and consumer products, consumers will need reliable risk information about mer cur y exposur e; about making in formed choices regarding the benefits of fish consumption, the risks of consump tion f o r cer t ain gr oups, and mer cur y lev els in certain fish; and about the purchase, use, and disposal of mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts and mer cur y -fr ee alt ernativ es. EP A will continue to pr ovide suppor t f o r national and local outreach and education pr ograms on the ef f ects of mer cur y and consumer c hoices. EP A will also suppor t risk communication and outreach efforts about mer cur y thr ough its int ernational activities and programs. Priority Activities for Mercury Risk Communication

• **Continue Assistance in Implementing Fish Advisories**  **–** EP A will continue to wo r k closely with FD A to im plement the 200 4 joint EP A-FD A national f ish advisor y f or me th ylmer cur y acr oss theIV. Communicating to the Public about Mercury Exposure Risks - 51

U .S. EP A will also wo r k with FD A to **the Home –**  Building upon the inforcontinue targeted outreach efforts to mation already available from states the U .S. medical community to pr o- and other groups about consumer vide inf ormation on die t a r y risks of pr oducts that cont ain mer cur y , EP A me th ylmer cur y exposur e, and wa ys will dev elop an in v

ent or y of mer cur ythat medical professionals can help cont aining pr oducts and mer cur y- free patients and their families reduce substitut es. EP A will also identify exposur e t o mer cur y while maint ain- inf ormation gaps. EP A will make the ing a health y diet. EP A will continue information available on its website. to assist the states and tribes with **Timeline: 2006** development and communication of their fish advisories through the National Forum on Contaminants in • **Outreach to Health Professionals and Health Care Associations –**  Health Fish (held ever y 1 5–1 8 months), professionals are an important partner updating of risk communication in the dissemination of mer cur y risk guidance documents, and updating the inf ormation. EP A is wo r k ing t o eduNational Listing of Advisories. cate health professionals about a **Timeline: Ongoing; Biennial Fish Forums** variety of children’s environmental

• **Maint ain Centr**  **alized Mer cur**  **y P o** 

**r**

**t a** 

**l W**  **ebsit e** 

**–** EP A will pr ovide up-to-dat e health issues, including mer cur y . F o r ex am ple, EP A is coor dinating an interagency effort to work with the information on all aspects of the risk Pediatric En vir onment al Health of mer cur y exposur e thr ough f ood Speciality Units to provide pediatric consumption and product use by consult ative ser vices co v

ering mer cur y maint aining its electr onic Mer cur y and other key concerns for children’s Po r t al W ebsit e, whic h will be EP A

’ s en vir onment al health. EP A will also primar y mec hanism f or communicat - partner with health care associations ing with the public about mer cur y . and universities to disseminate mer**Timeline: Ongoing** cur y risk inf ormation and incr ease

• **Assist St at** 

**e, T ribal, and Local Go**  **v**

**ern****** **ment Mer cur**  **y Outr eac**  **h Activities –**  pr oper mer cur y disposal in health car e facilities. Through the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program, EP A will continue to assis t and suppor t EP A and its r egions will continue t o state, tribal, and local government work with universities to educate e f

f o r ts t o conduct mer cur y risk com - future health professionals in proper munication and outreach, research disposal of chemicals in hospitals. and mitigation activities addressing **Timeline: Ongoing** im por t ant r out es of mer cur y exposur e, and actions that can be taken by individual consumers to reduce mer- • **Outreach to Schools on the Need to R** 

**emo v** 

**e**

**Mer cur**  **y**

**–** As par t of its cur y exposur e and pollution. **T imeline:**  national project to work with science **Ongoing** teachers, curriculum developers,

• **Outreach Activities to Consumers on Mer**  **cur y** 

**-cont aining Products and**  **Mer cur**  **y**

**-fr ee Substitutes f**  **or Use in** facilities managers, and pollution prevention professionals to promote mer cur y r eduction in sc hools, EP A will work to make school officials and staff52 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury aware of the risks of exposure to mer cur y and the a vailability of mercur y-fr ee alternativ es. This includes the use of software to educate school decisionmakers about potential envi ronmental hazards in schools and ways to reduce them. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• **Conduct Public A w** 

**ar**

**eness Ev aluation**  **f or Die**  **t**

**a**

**r y** 

**Issues –** T o be tt er educate the U .S. public on ho w t o make inf ormed die t a r y c hoices, FD A , with assis t ance fr om EP A , is conducting sur v e ys to evaluat e how w ell the U .S. public understands the effects of me th ylmer cur y exposur e fr om eating certain fish and shellfish. **Timeline: Surveys conducted and completed during**  **2006/2007**V. Addressing International Mercury Sources - 53



# V

. ADDRESSIN G INTERN A TION AL MERCURY SOURCES

OVERVIEW EP A is activ ely engaged and collaborating with international organizations and partners to address risks associated with mer cur y uses, r eleases, and exposur e. As pr eviously discussed, the gr eat es t mer cur y exposure to the based on an advanced, state-of-the-science modeling assessment of atmospheric fate, transpor t, and deposition of mer cur y . EP A

’s modeling indicat es that a subs t antial variation in mer cur y deposition occur s general population is from eating fish containing methylmer cur y , including marine f ish. EP A has estimated that over three quarters (83 percent) of the mer cur y deposit ed in the U .S. origi nates from international sources (with the r emaining 1 7 percent coming fr om U .S. and Canadian sources). These figures in clude mer cur y fr omnatural and reemitted sources. This estimate is FIGURE 5. Where are Man-Made Mercury Emissions Originating? 1

1995, metric tons per year

.54 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

FIGURE 6. Man-Made Air Emissions of Mercury: Distribution by Region in 1990 and 2000 3 1990 T

o tal: 1,181 metric tons

Af r i c a 178 tons

9% South Am er ic a 62 tons

3% As ia 705 tons North A m eri c a

38% 261 tons 14%

Eur ope Aus t r a lia 627 tons 48 tons 33%

3%

acr oss the U .S., with domes tic sour ces influencing mer cur y deposition muc h mor e in the eas tern U .S. and global sources being a more significant contribu tor to mer cur y deposition in the we s t , where relatively few domestic sources exist. The scientific community’s understanding of mer cur y atmospheric c hemis tr y is evolving, and there remain uncertainties r egar ding simulation of mer cur y in atmo spheric c hemis tr y models. EP A continues to work to advance the state of the science on mer cur y c hemis tr y and fate and trans port modeling. 2 International collaboration is critical to refining our understand ing of global mer cur y sour ces, international transport pathways, and environmental impacts, and most importantly, for addressing the adverse impacts of mer cur y on human health and the environment globally. **Sources .**  A number of key international emission sources contribute to global cy cling and deposition of mer cur y via air pathways, including: coal-fired combustion sources; mining and metals production, suc h as smelting; mer cur y-cell c hlor -alk ali 2000 T

o tal: 2,269 metric tons

Af r i c a 407 tons

18% South Am er ic a 92 tons As ia 4% 1204 tons

52% Nor t h Am er ic a 202 tons

9% Eur o pe 239 tons

11% Aus t r a lia 125 tons

6% manufacturing facilities; and combustion or incineration of waste products contain ing mer cur y . The U nited N ations En vi ronment Program (UNEP) estimates that the to t al global emissions of mer cur y (anthropogenic and natural to the atmo sphere) range from 4,400 to 7,500 metric tons per year . 4 EP A es timates that 50–70 percent of current global anthropogenic atmospheric emissions come from fuel combustion, and much of this is from China, India, and other Asian countries. 5 Coal consumption in Asia is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years. This sour ce of mer cur y emissions ma y grow substantially if left unaddressed. 6 Small-scale “artisanal” gold and silver mining is an im por t ant mer cur y emissions source in numerous Asian, South Ameri can, and African countries. Atmospheric mer cur y emissions fr om ar tisanal gold mining have been estimated by UNEP to be about 300 me tric tons per year , 7 but some exper ts es timate that to t al mer cur y releases from artisanal gold mining are betw een 650 and 1 ,000 metric t ons per year on a global basis. 8 An estimated 13 million people in 55 countries work andV. Addressing International Mercury Sources - 55 are affected by occupational exposures in and international programs and agree artisanal mining. 9 ments to addr ess mer cur y uses, r eleases, and the resulting exposure around the Using data presented in the 2002 United globe. These include: Nations Environment Program Global Mer cur y Assessment, EP A has calculated • **U .S./Canada Gr**  **eat Lak es Binational**  that mer cur y -cell c hlor -alk ali f actories ar e **T o** 

**xics Str a** 

**tegy ,**  whic h pr ovides a the third largest source of atmospheric framework for actions to reduce or mer cur y r eleases to the global en vir on- eliminate mer cur y and o ther per sis ment. While the number of mer cur y -cell tent toxic substances. The Strategy sets chlor-alkali facilities has been greatly forth challenge goals to reduce merreduced in the United States and Europe cur y use b y 50 per cent and to r educe over the last two decades, the process is releases by 50 percent by 2006 (from prevalent in many parts of the world the 1 990 baseline). The use goal has including Russia, several South American been met. The releases goal has almost countries, and India, which is estimated to been me t. Mer cur y r eleases ha v

e have the most plants of any developing decr eased by 4 7 per cent. By 2006, countr y . 10 EP A estimates that ther e ma y additional r egulations and v olunt ar y be 1 35–1 70 mer cur y-cell plants globally , activities are expected to reduce merwith half located in dev eloping countries. 11 cur y emissions b y at leas t 50 per cent, mee ting the r elease goal as well. 14 Global es timates f or mer cur y use in processes and products range from 2,000– • **New England Governors/Eastern** 3,400 me tric tons per y ear . 12 Mer cur y-cell **Canadian Pr emier**  **s R**  **egional Mer cur**  **y** chlor-alkali facilities are among the principal user s of mer cur y in the FIGURE 7. Global Mercury Use, 2000 world. In addition to industrial uses, mer cur y has been used in T o tal: 3,386 metric tons numerous products, including Dental amalgam household appliances, electronics, 272 tons Measuring and Control 8% batteries, automobile switches, 166 tons 5% Batteries dental amalgam, and thermom- Lighting 1081 tons e t ers. While mer cur y use in pes ti- 91 tons 32% 3% cides, fungicides, paints, and most Other uses batteries has been banned or 175 tons phased-out in the U .S. and o ther 5% Electrical control & swtiching developed countries, these uses are 154 tons continuing in developing coun- 4% tries. F or ex am ple, batter y pr oduction accounts for an estimated one thir d of global mer cur y use in pr oducts (see Figur e 7). 13 Small-scale gold & silver mining (artisanal) 650 tons **Pr ogr**  **ess to date .**  EP A is curr ently 19% engaged in the implementation of Chlor-alkali 797 tons a wide range of bilateral, regional, 24%56 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

**Action Plan ,**  which establishes long- pr o t ocol also r e q uir es mandator y term and shor t-t erm regional mer cur y mer cur y concentration limits f o r reduction goals. The plan addresses certain types of batteries, and encourmer cur y emission r eductions; sour ce ages parties to consider various manreduction and safe waste management; agement measures to address use of outreach and education; and research, mer cur y in o ther pr oducts. The U .S. analysis and strategic monitoring. Due to successfully reaching the goal of 50 meets the provisions of the Heavy Me t als Pr o t ocol. 17 percent reduction of emissions by 2003, the Governors and Premiers are • **UNEP Mer cur**  **y Pr ogram,**  whic h w a s now working on meeting a 75 percent r eduction goal f or emissions b y 20 1 0

. 15 cr eat ed at the F ebruar y 2003 mee ting of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council. • **Commission for Environmental** The United States government was **Cooperation (CEC) North American** instrumental in providing much of the **R**

**egional A ction Plan f**  **or Mer cur**  **y**

**,** initial funding and leadership for the which aims to reduce man-made cr eation of the UNEP Mer cur y Pr omer cur y r eleases t o the N o r th Ameri - gram. This program is based on the can environment through appropriate key finding of the 2002 UNEP Global international and national initiatives Mercury Assessment that there is to amounts that are attributable to sufficient evidence of significant global naturally-occurring levels and f luxes. adverse im pacts fr om mer cur y and its The U .S. has made considerable compounds to warrant international progress in implementing the provi - action to reduce the risks to human sions of the plan r egar ding mer cur y air health and the environment. Supemissions; processes, operations, and ported by the 130 nations attending products; and waste management; as the Governing Council meeting, the well as research, monitoring, model- UNEP Mer cur y Pr ogram endor ses ing, and inventories; and communication activities. 16 immediate actions t o r educe mer cur y uses and releases, assist developing countries to cr eat e mer cur y emissions • **United Nations Economic Commis -**  inventories, raise awareness, and **sion for Europe (UNECE) Convention** pr ovide tec hnical assis t ance. The U .S. **on Long-r ange T**  **r**

**ansboundar y Air**  government has been involved in all **P**

**ollution Pro t**  **ocol on Heavy Me t** 

**als** is of these efforts, and has funded the a legally-binding agreement that majority of the UNEP Mer cur y Pr otargets emissions of cadmium, lead, gram to date. EP A funded tec hnical and mer cur y . The U .S. is a par ty t o the s t af f t o wo r k in the UNEP Mer cur y Heavy Metals Protocol, which went Program for two years, provided into effect in December 2003. The technical review of UNEP draft protocol aims to cut emissions from mer cur y guidance, and sent exper ts t o industrial sources, combustion pro cesses, and waste incineration through conduct training at the UNEP regional mer cur y w o rk shops. 18 application of best available technolo gies and emission limit values for new At the twenty-third session of the and exis ting s t ationar y sour ces. The UNEP Governing Council, which wasV. Addressing International Mercury Sources - 57

held in N air obi, Ke n y a, F ebruar y 2 1 – Council Action Plan (A CAP) and the 25, 2005, delegates agreed to further Arctic Monitoring and Assessment dev elop the UNEP Mer cur y Pr ogram P r ogram (AMAP). EP A has wo r ked t o and to support the efforts of countries strengthen capacity building and to t a ke action to r educe mer cur y technical cooperation programs exposure, releases, and uses. The among the Arctic countries, particuGoverning Council urged govern - larly to assist Russia in the develop ments, intergovernmental and non governmental organizations, and the ment of R ussia’s mer cur y action plan. 22 In 2005, two A C AP mer cur y private sector to develop and imple - reports were issued. The first, an ment par tner ships in a clear , transpar - “ A

r ctic Mer cur y Releases In v

entor y , ” ent, and accountable manner to summarizes current releases, usage, r educe the risks of mer cur y to human health and the en vir onment. 19 and disposal of mer cur y within all eight Arctic countries. The second, an

“ Assessment of Mer cur y Releases fr om The U .S. initiat ed f i ve mer cur y par t- the Russian Federation,” represents nerships for: (1) artisanal and small- the first comprehensive assessment of scale gold mining; (2) chlor-alkali mer cur y r eleases at the national lev el manufacturing; (3) products; (4) coal by that countr y . With the cooper ation combustion; and (5) fate and transport of the Russian authorities, a limited r esear c h. EP A held consult ative mee t- number of point sources in the Rus ings with other countries and domestic sian Federation are being evaluated in and international stakeholders on the terms of their potential as sites for first three partnerships in 2005. The mer cur y demons tr ation pr ojects. The partnerships created will leverage A gency is coor dinating U .S. f ederal resources, technical expertise, technol- government involvement, which ogy transf er , and inf ormation ex - includes the U .S. Geological Sur v e y , changes to provide immediate, effec- Department of Energy, Department of tive action that will result in tangible State, and National Oceanic and r eductions of mer cur y use and emis sions. 20 Atmospheric Administration. **F**

**utur e f**  **ocus.** EP A will continue t o w o r k • **United Nations Industrial Develop-** with the U .S. Depar tment of St ate and **ment Organization (UNIDO) Global** other federal agencies to provide interna**Mer cur**  **y Project ,**  whic h pr ovides tional leader ship in addr essing mer cur y in training on best management practices international fora, including the CEC, to reduce occupational exposures, to UNECE, Ar ctic Council, and UNEP

. reduce emissions, and to reduce the Consistent with the 2005 UNEP Governamount of mer cur y used in small-scale ing Council Decision on mer cur y , the goal “artisanal” gold and silver mining of the U .S. go v

ernment is to r educe operations ar ound the world. EP A has human and ecosystem risks associated with provided funding and technical expertise t o assis t in this ef f o r t . 21 the use and emissions of mer cur y fr om international sour ces. Global mer cur y reductions can be accomplished by address - • **Ar ctic Mer**  **cur y Pr**  **oject,** whic h w a s ing all major aspects of the global mer cur y developed in the context of the Arctic problem and collaborating on the develop -58 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercuryment of partnerships and specific resultsoriented pr ojects to r educe mer cur y uses and emissions nationally, regionally, and globally. It is critical to more fully engage developed and developing countries, indus tr y , en vir onment al gr oups, international organizations, and funding institu tions to bring needed technical expertise and financial resources to address the global mer cur y pr oblem. Priority Activities to Reduce Global Mercury Sources and Releases The following is a list of important compo nents to an international approach to facilit ate global r eductions in mer cur y use, releases, and exposure, followed by brief descrip tions, and EP A

’s priority actions in each area. These activities build upon and com plement exis ting actions under UNEP , UNECE, Arctic Council, UNIDO, and multi-lateral and bilateral agreements, and may include the development of or partici pation in specific partnerships and projects in the following areas:

• Increase international awareness of mer cur y risks and risk communication approaches

• Improve global understanding of international emissions sources, releases and transport mechanisms

• Addr ess mer cur y emissions fr om point sources

• Addr ess mer cur y use in pr oducts and processes where there is an opportunity to reduce risk

• Addr ess mer cur y supply issues

• I m p r o v

e management of mer cur y containing wastes and surplus mer cur y • **Increase International A w** 

**areness of Mer**  **cur y Risks and Risk Communica** **** **tion Approaches –** There is a need to enhance international awareness and under s t anding of mer cur y sour ces (national, regional, and global) and risks to the general public. It is important to develop and share key health messages and methods regarding exposur e fr om diet a r y sour ces (e.g., fish consumption advisories, testing methods, and protocols for determin ing the level of mer cur y in f ish) and non-die t a r y sour ces (e.g., consumer pr oducts) and the need t o use mer cur y alternatives. E P A will wor k with its f ederal, s t at e, non governmental, and international partners to:

• Share sampling and analysis protocols that have been developed to determine the level of mer cur y in fish. **T imeline: Ongoing** 

• Support international outreach efforts to communicate risk. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• **Improve International Understand****** **ing of Global Emissions Sources, R** 

**eleases, and T r** 

**anspor t Mec**  **hanisms**

**–** International cooperation has helped shape understanding of mercur y cy cling on local, r egional, and global scales, and determine the effects of mer cur y exposur e on human health. W o rking with international partners is critical to improving under s t anding of mer cur y’s global impacts. Areas of collaboration will include transport and fate research; development of production, use, source, and emissions data.V. Addressing International Mercury Sources - 59

E P A will w o rk with its f ederal, s t ate, non governmental, and international partners to:

• Coordinate monitoring research and measurement work in Asia and elsewhere. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• Continue to conduct high altitude r esear c h in the U .S. t o continue to transect with ongoing long-range transport monitoring in other par ts of the w orld b y the U .S. and other countries. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• Develop and implement wo rkplans with UNEP , U nited N ations Institut e f or T r aining and Resear c h (UNIT AR) and o ther countries f or assessment/in v

entor y of mer cur y emissions and use. **Timeline: 2006**

• Support the development of a global par tnership on mer cur y f a te and transport research. **Timeline: Initiate in 2006** 

• **A ddr**  **ess Mer cur**  **y Emissions fr om**  **P**

**oint Sour ces –**  Mer cur y is emitted t o the air from combustion of fossil fuels, m e t al pr oduction, mining, mer cur ycell chlor-alkali plants, waste incinerators, zinc smelters, and other point sources. International efforts to build on a number of existing techniques to r educe mer cur y emissions fr om these point sources by sharing information and expertise on air control technolo gies and multi-pollutant approaches will be key. E P A will w o rk with o ther f eder al agencies and departments to: • Build on bilateral agreements to improve inventories and introduce control technologies in China, India, and Russia. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• Achieve reductions of global mer cur y emissions fr om the coalfired power sector through volun t a r y par tnerships. **T imeline: Initiate**  **in 2006**

• Raise awareness and knowledge of the applicability, effectiveness and cos t of newly emerging mer cur y and multi-pollutant control tech nologies. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• Coordinate with the Chinese gov ernment, the privat e sector , Japan, and Canada to follow up on the workshop conducted in Beijing, China in November 2005to provide information on coalfired power plant multi-pollutant s t ra tegies and mer cur y contr ol techniques, and to establish mechanisms to ensure continued information exchange with China and other countries. **Timeline: Ongoing**

• Review data on emissions from international large-scale metals mining operations in areas with high mer cur y cont ent or e and explor e op tions f or transf er of EP A Region 9 ’s Mining V olunt ar y P a r tner ship Pr ogram. **T imeline:**  **2006/2007**

• **A ddress Mer**  **cur y Use in Pr**  **oducts and Pr**  **ocesses –** Mer cur y is used globally in a variety of products and industrial processes. For most products and processes, there are cost-effective60 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury alternatives available that could replace mer cur y , whic h would reduce demand and emissions. There is a need for several sector-oriented approaches, including: (1) dev eloping an industr y partnership on chlor-alkali best man agement pr actices t o r educe mer cur y use and emissions in countries or regions that use or emit the largest amounts of mer cur y; (2) r educing global demand for commodity-grade mer cur y thr ough the use of in v

ent o ries and partnering with national and international stakeholders to share information and approaches for mer cur y r eductions and subs titut es, particularly for measuring devices, batteries, and products used in the health care sector; and (3) promoting artisanal mining techniques that are safer and that eliminate or reduce the in put of mer cur y . E P A will w o rk with its f ederal, s t ate, non governmental, industry, and international partners to:

• Develop a multi-stakeholder global par tnership on mer cur y-cell c hloralk ali sector . The par tnership would include pilot projects; information exchange on best management practices and conversion t o non-mer cur y pr ocesses; and use r epor ting, t o r educe mer cur y releases from facilities that use or emit the largest amounts of mercur y , including facilities in Mexico, India and Russia. **Timeline: Initiated in 2005** 

• Develop a multi-stakeholder global partnership for reducing or elimi nating mer cur y use in products where there are cost-effective substitutes through pilot projects and activities, such as:

• Sharing information and ap pr oac hes f or mer cur y r eductions and substitutes (e.g., batteries and other products).

• Conducting a mer cur y pr oduct workshop to build capacity in Mexico and other countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America through the CEC Mercur y T a sk F o r ce (U .S., Canada, and Mexico) in Merida, Y ucat an, Mexico in 2006.

• Developing countr y-specif ic use inventories, e.g. the Americas, Africa.

• T ransf erring successful r eduction pr ograms, suc h as EP A

’s successful Hospitals for a Healthy Environ ment pr ogram and the U .S. Gr een Suppliers Network to other coun tries, e.g., China. **Timeline: Initiate in 2006** 

• Expand upon the UNIDO work on best management practices for artisanal mining to develop a multi-stakeholder global partnership on artisanal and small-scale gold mining to address use, expo sur e, and r eleases fr om this sect or . Activities include the development of pilot projects, training, and monitoring, among others. **Timeline: Initiated in 2005**

• **Addr ess Mer**  **cur y Supply Issues –**  Given declining demand in many dev eloped countries, ongoing primar yV. Addressing International Mercury Sources - 61

mer cur y mining, and gr owing global the waste stream. In addition, the supplies fr om secondar y sour ces, prices global supply of commodity-grade f or mer cur y ar e expected t o decline. A mer cur y will incr ease as various secglobal mer cur y mar ke t sur plus is ondar y sour ces of mer cur y ov er t a k e expected by 2020 (but may occur the shrinking demand. There will be earlier), k eeping the price of mer cur y an increasing need to safely manage low and potentially discouraging its mer cur y supplies f or the long term. safe storage and management, the Actions may include: (1) sharing implementation of best management information on successful approaches practices, substitution, and phase-out. and best management practices for The 2005 Governing Council Deci - s t orage of commodity -grade mer cur y sion 23/9 requests that the UNEP and safe treatment, retorting, and pr epar e a r epor t on mer cur y supply , disposal of waste, including discarded trade, and demand information for mer cur y-cont aining pr oducts; (2) consideration of possible further coordinating waste management action. The Decision also requests activities with the Basel Convention’s gov ernments, the private sect or , and capacity-building program for waste international organizations to take actions to reduce risks posed on a management to avoid duplication and to leverage resources; 23 and (3) as global scale b y mer cur y in pr oducts technologies come on-line, building and processes, such as considering capacity to create waste disposal/ curbing primar y mer cur y pr oduction r ecy cling pr ograms f or mer cur y- (mining) and intr oduction of mer cur y containing batteries, lamps, scrap into commerce. metal, etc. E P A will w o rk with the U .S. Depar tment E P A will w o r k with its f eder al and stat e of State, other federal agencies, and partners, non-governmental organizations, international partners to: and international partners to:

• Shar e U .S. dat a on mer cur y • Shar e U .S. bes t management im por ts and expor ts with UNEP

. practices for automobile switch **Timeline: 2006** removal, collection, and recycling programs. **Timeline: 2006** • Explore mechanisms for facilitating the phase-out of primar y • As previously discussed in the mer cur y mining. **T imeline: Initiate in**  Commodity section of the **2007** Roadmap, EP A will est ablish a

• **Im pro**  **v**

**e Management of Mer cur**  **y**

  ** Cont** **aining W a** 

**stes and Sur plus**  stakeholder process to address the mer cur y sur plus issue. **T imeline:**  **Initiate in 2006 Mer**  **cur y –**  Mer cur y -cont aining w a st es present significant challenges, where municipal, hazardous, and medicalwaste management systems are illeq uipped to separate mer cur y fr om62 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryVI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 63



# VI. C ONDUCTIN G MERCURY RESEARCH AND MONITORIN G

MERCUR Y RESEARCH OVER VIEW Ther e is muc h mer cur y r esear c h underway to investigate the occurrence and im pact of mer cur y in the en vir onment. EP A is actively engaged in a varie ty of r esear c h activities. In 2000, EP A

’s Of f ice of Research and Development (ORD) published its Mer cur y Resear c h S t r a t egy , 1 which provides broad strategic directions f or EP A

’s mer cur y r esear c h pr ogram. The overarching goal of the research strategy is to provide information and data that reduce scientific uncertainties limiting the Agency’s ability to assess and manage mer cur y and me th ylmer cur y risks. The strategy provides a rationale and framewo r k f

or se tting futur e mer cur y r esear c h priorities, whic h ar e r e flect ed in EP A

’s Mer cur y R esear c h Multi- Y

ear Plan (MYP) co v

ering the period 2002–20 1 0

. 2This implementation plan contains longterm goals to: (1) reduce and prevent r elease of mer cur y into the en vir onment ; and (2) understand the transport and fate of mer cur y fr om r elease t o the r ecep tor and its ef f ects on the r eceptor . In conducting its mer cur y r esear c h pro gram, ORD’s in-house efforts are coupled with those of its Science to Achieve Results (S T AR) Grants Pr ogram, 3 whic h sponsor s extramural research on many topics by academic institutions and other not-forpr of it entities. In addition, some of EP A

’ s research is undertaken in cooperation with o ther organizations suc h as the U .S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U .S. Geological Sur v e y (USGS). Im por t ant coordination occurs among federal agen cies and state, tribal, and local govern ments, through science forums such as the EP A/USGS Mer cur y Roundt able. 4 It is also important to note that additional64 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

mer cur y r esear c h activities ar e conduct ed by EP A headq uar ters and r egional of f ices that ar e no t described in ORD’s Mer cur y Multi- Y

ear Plan. The primar y exposur e r oute addr essed in the ORD Mer cur y R esear c h Stra tegy involves fish consumption where deposited mer cur y is con v

e r t ed to me th ylmer cur y in water bodies, consumed by fish, and then accumulated in mammals, including humans that eat fish. Within the context of this primar y exposur e r out e, EP A has analyzed various scientific questions, including the following. Key Scientific Questions

• H o w muc h me th ylmer cur y in f ish consumed by the U .S. population is contributed b y U .S. emissions r elativ e to o ther sour ces of mer cur y (suc h as natural sources, emissions from sources in other countries, and re-emissions from the global pool)? How much, and over what time period, will levels of me th ylmer cur y in f ish in the U .S. decrease due to reductions in environ ment al r eleases fr om U .S. sour ces?

• H o w muc h can mer cur y emissions from coal-fired power plant boilers and other combustion systems be reduced with innovativ e mer cur y-specif ic and multi-pollutant control technologies? What is the relative performance and cost of these approaches compared to currently available technologies? 5

• What is the magnitude of contribu tions of mer cur y r eleases from noncombustion sources? How can the most significant releases be minimized? 6

• What critical changes in human health are associated with exposure to envi r onment al sour ces of me th ylmer cur y in the most susceptible human populations? Ho w muc h meth ylmer cur y ar e humans exposed to, particularly women of child-bearing age and children among highly-exposed population groups? What is the magnitude of uncer t ainty and variability of mer cur y and meth ylmer cur y t o xicokine tics in children? 7

• What are the most effective means for informing susceptible populations of the health risks posed b y mer cur y and me th ylmer cur y cont amination of f ish and seafood? 8 EP A based the pr oposed and f inal §1 1 2(n) Revision R ule and the Clean Air Mer cur y Rule on the current state of the science. 9 In the context of these rules, EP A , among other things, identified the pertinent health endpoints associated with methylm er cur y cont amination, consider ed the primar y exposur e pathwa y s f or inges tion of me th ylmer cur y , analyzed mer cur y control technologies, and considered the effectiveness and costs associated with r educing mer cur y emissions from coalf i r ed po wer plants. EP A r ecognizes that there remain scientific uncertainties associated with some of the above-noted questions and is committed to continuing to work to advance the science in these areas. **Progress to date.** Research results provide im por t ant inf ormation to suppor t EP A

’ s air , wa ter , was t e, and t o xics pr ogr ams in their ongoing ef f o r ts t o addr ess mer cur y . In recent years the major emphasis of research activities has been to support EP A

’s r e gulat or y ef f o r ts t o contr ol mercur y fr om coal-fir ed po wer plants, and to increase the Agency’s understanding ofVI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 65

mer cur y f a te and transpor t. The f ollowing are major research results from the period 200 1–200 4. EP A r esear c hers ha v

e developed the methodology and instrumentation to make semi-continuous ambient measure ments that dis tinguish among mer cur y f orms—element al gaseous mer cur y , divalent mer cur y (also r e f err ed to as r eactive gaseous mer cur y [R GM]), and par ticulate phase mer cur y . The r esulting speciat ed data have improved the understanding of atmospheric transport and fate and enhanced the ability to attribute the relative contributions of local, regional, and global sour ces of mer cur y to domes tic and global deposition. 10 EP A has pr oduced a st a t e-of-the-science atmospheric simulation model which incorporates the current understanding of chemical and physical processes involving mer cur y , including com plex interactions with other atmospheric pollutants. This model uses highly efficient formulations and numerical methods, and has recently been used to simulate a full year of atmo spheric mer cur y transpor t and fate ov er most of North America. Notwithstanding these recent advances in modeling atmo spheric fate, transport, and deposition of mer cur y , ther e r emain dif f icult scientif ic challenges to resolve. The Agency is currently working with international groups to better quantify atmospheric c hemis tr y kine tics in Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) and to readily assess the impacts of these model adjustments to the fate, transport, and deposition of mer cur y . 11 EP A has dev eloped and t e s t ed mass balance models that use speciated atmo spheric mer cur y deposition f luxes t o calculate expected wa ter shed mer cur y loadings, water body concentrations, and concentrations in f ish. EP A

’s S T AR grant research program, in addition to its research in other areas, has furthered the understanding of the reduction-oxidation balance be t ween aq uatic mer cur y and atmospheric mer cur y , and the ef f ect of this cy cling on the to t al mer cur y pr esence in freshwater and marine systems. EP A

’s r esear c h pr ogram has pr ovided extensive support to Agency program of

f ices and the Adminis tr ator on mer cur y control technologies, including:

• Several comprehensive reports that document the development, cost and e f

f ectiv eness of various mer cur yspecific control technology options (including sorbent injection), and evaluate co-control reductions that can be achieved using existing technologies including sulfur dioxide (SO2) scrub bers and selective catalytic reduction (SCR)-based nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions control systems; 12

• A White P aper , placed in EP A

’s coalfired power plant rulemaking regulator y doc ke t, summarizes the s t atus of control technology options and outlines what can be achieved in the future using various alternative mercur y r emo val tec hnologies. This Whit e P aper was updated to suppor t EP A

’ s Office of Air and Radiation and enable stakeholders to identify optimal management appr oac hes. 13 In par ticu lar , these r esear c hr esults pr ovide s t a t e agencies, indus tr y , and o ther s with the most current technology performance and cost information to inform their implementation decisions.66 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

EP A has developed a r epor t describing the foundation for subsequent products im pact of selected mer cur y contr ol tec h- including a literature review of the sources nologies on the characteristics of coal and r emediation of mer cur y-cont aminated combustion residues and how selected sediments and a model for evaluating the utilization/disposal practices impact the e f f ects of r emedial actions on mer cur y fa te of mer cur y r esidues. As par t of this speciation and tr anspor t. 16 This w o rk effort, ORD has generated a standard demonstrated how the introduction or protocol that will be used to establish the exclusion of oxygen via risk management leaching and thermal stability for the strategies impacted the fate and transport range of environmental conditions that of mer cur y in sediments. coal combustion residues are exposed to during storage, land disposal, and use in EP A has evaluated the ef f ectiveness of commer cial applications. 14 several risk management strategies to addr ess mer cur y-cont aminat ed sediments, EP A has evaluated the per f ormance of including dredging, capping, and moni continuous emission monitors (CEMs) for tor ed natural r ecov e r y . W o r k has f ocused coal-fired power plant boilers as one on the La vaca Ba y , T e x as Super -fund sit e. possible tool for measuring total and speciated f orms of mer cur y emitted fr om EP A , as par t of its ef f o r t to develop tr eatplants under different operating condi - ment alternatives for waste from sites tions. 15 Based on that evaluation, the cont aminated with mer cur y mining Agency has concluded that CEMs are wastes, has completed a study describing suit able r e gulat or y tools. EP A

’s evaluation leac hing pr of iles of mer cur y-cont aining entailed a series of pilot-scale combustion waste rock and roaster tailings from a experiments, representing realistic coal- Super fund site in Calif ornia. 17 These fired power plant boiler measurement results were used to predict the fate and environments, that allowed controlled s t ability of mer cur y pr esent, and will be investigation of specific measurement used to assess the suitability of any appli issues associated with mer cur y CEM cable remediation treatment. operation. Measurement results were obtained rapidly so that timely feedback T o suppor t EP A

’s ef f o r ts t o addr ess issues could be provided to the monitor manu- associated with the long-term storage of facturers in order to optimize their instru - mer cur y , the A gency has: (1) com ple t ed a ments. The improvements accomplished report that describes a systematic method during the pilot-plant tests resulted in for comparing options for the long-term these same mer cur y CEMs par ticipating in management of surplus elemental merthree full-scale utility boiler field evalua- cur y in the U .S., 18 and (2) collect ed inf or

tions that demonstrated their perfor- mation on state-of-the-art practices for mance and capabilities. These results also macro-encapsulation and micro-encapsulaapply to hazardous waste incinerators. tion of mer cur y-cont aminated hazar dous wastes. EP A has conducted a lit eratur e r eview to assess mer cur y me th ylation pr ocesses in EP A has evaluated the ef f ectiveness of aquatic sediments to inform selection and some existing and future risk communicaimplementation of risk management tion tools in a varie ty of f ormats, using 1 8 strategies. This provided the technical focus groups. Results show clear age,VI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 67 gender , and risk -r elat ed tr ends, whic h indicate that different risk communication tools will be required for each of these audiences, and that no one tool will be optimally effective across the board. The results of this work will be published in 2006/2007, and will add to the body of work outlining risk communication as an important tool for reducing environmen tal risk and protecting human health. EP A is wo r king with s t a t es t o conduct research on fish tissue. For example, Region 8 has collected over 500 fish samples over the last three years from the Chey enne Riv er Sioux T ribal lands in stock ponds and in the Cheyenne, Moreau, and Missouri Rivers. Data from Region 8 showed that fish from small ponds ha v

e high lev els of me th ylmer cur y . This may be a function of a biogeochemically favorable environment f or meth ylmer cur y pr oduction (i.e., me th ylation of element al mer cur y) in these environments, although further research is needed to confirm this hypoth esis. Region 8 has also used the data to determine Exposur e Point Concentrations (EPC) f or several species. 19 The r egional office is working with the tribe to make recommendations on fish stocking in stock dams, and also on recommendations about how many meals per month should be eaten for each species according to the mer cur y EPC f or that species. **F**

**utur e f**  **ocus and priority activities.** EP A will continue to support the long-term goals described in the Mer cur y Multi- Y

ear Plan and this Roadmap . The major emphasis of the mer cur y r esear c h pr ogram will continue to be the control of utility emissions, because utilities represent the mos t signif icant sour ce of mer cur y r elease to the atmosphere in the United States.

• **T o** 

**xic Me t**  **als F a** 

**te Repor t –**  EP A will develop a report on the fate of toxic metals from land disposal and com mercial use of coal combustion resi dues from plants equipped with multipollutant control technologies. **Timeline: 2008**

• **Sour ces of Mer**  **cur y Emissions –**  EP A will develop information on sources of mer cur y emissions including the regional/global atmospheric fate and transport of such emissions. **Timeline: 2008** 

How EP A

Will T rack Progress and Key T rends 1 . Air Emissions

• National Emissions Inventory (EP A)

• EP A

’ s primary source for air emissions data

• T oxics Release Inventory (EP A) 2 . Ambient Air and Air Deposition

• Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) (joint federal/state program)

• New England Mercury Monitoring Network (joint EP A/st ate program)

• Long Range Transport Monitoring (joint EP A/NOAA activity) 3 . Water Quality/Fish Tissue

• National Fish T issue Study (baseline study) (EP A)

• National Listing of Fish Advisories (EP A)

• National Coast al Assessment ecological monitoring (EP A)

• Commercial fish monitoring (FDA) 4 . Human Biomonitoring

• National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (CDC)68 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

• **Integrated Multimedia Modeling –** EP A will dev elop an int egra t ed multi media modeling framework for the scientif ic unders t anding of mer cur y . **T imeline: 20**  **1 0**  MERCURY MONITORING OVERVIEW There are many ongoing monitoring projects and programs that measure mer cur y in various media. These pr ojects and programs are conducted by other federal agencies, states and tribal govern ments, and in academia. Access to routine, ongoing monitoring information is needed to track environmental and health trends and to measure program effective ness. A basic s t ra tegy f or r outine mer cur y monitoring is to focus on the most effi cient points to monitor along the major transport and exposure path of air-to water-to-fish-to-humans, in order to determine trends in environmental and health levels and whether they are responding to control and reduction measures. Based on this mer cur y tr anspor t and exposur e path, the four most important media of concern are: (1) air emissions, (2) ambient air and air deposition, (3) fish tissue, and (4) human tissue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects data on human tissue, which includes blood, hair , and urine. Dat a on emissions and deposition allow EP A t o det ect c hanges q uickly that r e flect pr ogram activities with great relevance to long-term health and the environment. Data on fish and human tissue allow EP A to measur e longer-term changes that are slower to respond to control measures but are better indicators of environmental quality and human health. EP A will continue to wo r k with other federal agencies, states, and tribal governments to coordinate and enhance data collection for these four key indicators of long-term trends and pro g r am r esults f or mer cur y . **Progress to date.** Much progress has been made b y EP A and o thers to es t ablish monitoring and reporting systems to collect dat a on mer cur y r eleases and contamination. During the last five years, in par ticular , EP A has encouraged and supported increased national monitoring of mer cur y in bo th f ish tissue and human blood and hair samples, which is discussed in mor e det ail below . The f ollowing discussion provides information on current monitoring programs conducted or suppor ted b y EP A , and on r ecent EP A reports that highlight significant new data fr om various mer cur y monitoring activi ties. Air Emissions Monitoring A

tmospheric tr anspor t is the primar y f ocus f or mer cur y monitoring and modeling, as it is the dominant means for cy cling mer cur y fr om anthr opogenic sources, such as coal-fired power plant combustion sources, into other media. Emissions inventories provide information about the sour ces of mer cur y , and the relative contributions of those sources to total releases. Routine air emissions monitoring is needed to track long-term tr ends of mer cur y emissions ov er time and geogr aphic space in the U .S. Suc h inf or

mation is essential to evaluating the success of EP A

’s pr ograms f or r educing mer cur y air emissions fr om specif ic sources. T

wo k e y EP A r epor ting ef f o r ts f or air emissions are the National Emissions In ventor y (NEI) and the T o xics R elease Inventory (TRI) . These databases have been modified and improved over time so that the Agency has the latest information necessar y t o measur e pr ogram ef f ectiv e -VI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 69 ness and track environmental trends. (For further information, see Section I.)

Ambient Air and Air Deposition Moni toring Both ambient air monitoring and air deposition networks provide information on mer cur y once it has been emitt ed. This monitoring information is needed to track long-term mer cur y cont amination in ambient air , and to pr ovide in put to ongoing research and modeling activities to improve scientific understanding of mer cur y tr anspor t and fate in the en vir on ment ; s t ationar y and mobile sour ces of mer cur y; and the r elativ e contributions of those sour ces to t o t al mer cur y r eleases t o the environment. Major routine monitoring activities for mer cur y in ambient air and air deposition include the following:

• **Mer cur**  **y Deposition N e** 

**tw or**  **k (MDN)**  **20 –**  F ormed in 1 995, the MDN is part of the National Atmospheric Deposition Pr ogram/N ational T r ends Network (NADP/NTN), a nationwide network of over 70 precipitation monitoring sites that collect weekly dat a on the c hemistr y of pr ecipit ation for monitoring of long-term geo graphical and temporal trends. The network is a cooperative effort among state agricultural experiment stations, the U .S. Geological Sur v e y , U .S. Depar tment of Agricultur e, EP A , and numerous other governmental and private entities. Information from the MDN is being used to develop a national database of weekly concentrations of t o t al mer cur y in pr ecipit ation and the seasonal and annual f lux of to t al mer cur y in w e t deposition. Howe v e r , ther e ar e some gaps in the current geographic coverage of MDN which may limit the analysis. Also, the MDN does no t collect dat a on dr y deposition for either elemental or divalent mer cur y . A t pr esent, no adequate field routine measurement m e thod exis ts. EP A and o thers r ecognize that dr y deposition dat a ar e important—in some areas such data are as important as wet deposition in understanding total deposition. For these r easons, EP A announced in December 2005 a request for propos als to stimulate development of such methods.

• **N e**  **w England Mer cur**  **y Monit oring**  **Ne t**  **w**

**o**

**r**

**k**

**–**EP A and the N e w England s t a t es ha v

e es t ablished a mer cur y monitoring network. A number of monitoring field studies have been initiated in New England to measure mer cur y deposition and ambient concentration of atmospheric mercur y . These s t udies pr o vide baseline inf ormation on mer cur y deposition t o support regional efforts to control mer cur y cont amination and t o evalu a t e the ecological ef f ects of mer cur y contamination.

• **Long Range T r** 

**anspor t Monit**  **oring –** EP A , in collaboration with the U .S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration (NO AA), is wo r king with other countries on characterization, modeling, and speciation of ambient and sour ce level mer cur y r elated to mer cur y emissions transpor t and deposition on local, regional, and global scales. As part of this effort, high and low altitude monitoring is being conducted at various sites, including Mauna Loa, Hawaii. (For fur ther inf ormation, see Section V

. )70 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury Fish Tissue Monitoring results to develop the first national Monitoring of fish tissue provides essential estimates of the mean concentrations inf ormation about the lev els of mer cur y of mer cur y and 26 7 o ther c hemicals in consumed by the human population. lake fish, to define a national fish Routine monitoring of marine and fresh- contamination baseline to track wat er f ish consumed in the U .S. die t is progress of pollution control activities, needed to track trends in the level of likely and to identify areas where contami mer cur y exposur e b y the U .S. population, nant levels are high enough to waras well as tr ends in mer cur y concentrations rant further investigation. Sampling in f ish in U .S. w a ter bodies ov er time and has been conducted for four years at a geographic space. Inf ormation on mer cur y to t al of 500 locations, or about 1 2 5 concentrations in f ish tissue fr om U .S. sites annually . EP A has wo r ked with 4 7 water bodies is essential to evaluating the states, three tribes and two other success of EP A

’s pr ograms f or addr essing federal agencies to collect fish for the mer cur y r eleases fr om air , wa ter , and land study. While planning for the study sour ces. EP A has r ecently dev eloped a new began in 1 998, f ish sam pling began in wat er q uality criterion f or mer cur y that is 2000 and ended in November 2003. based on the amount of mer cur y f ound in EP A has r eleased all 4 y ear s of r a w fish tissue rather than the amount in data to the public. Agency analysis of water bodies. Fish tissue data are also the cumulative 4-year data set will be needed as input to research and modeling completed, and the final report will be activities to improve scientific understand- completed in December 2006. ing of mer cur y transpor t and f a te in the en vir onment ; sour ces of mer cur y in water • **EP A** 

**’s N ational Lis**  **ting of Fish A dviso** **** bodies; and the relative contributions of **ries 23**  **–** This database contains all fish those sour ces t o t o t al mer cur y r eleases t o advisor y inf ormation pr ovided t o EP A the environment. by the states, tribes, and Canada. It also cont ains inf ormation on mer cur y Many governmental organizations provide in fish tissue that states and tribes important monitoring data on fish, such as collect as par t of their fish advisor y FD A

’s commer cial f ish monit oring pr o- programs. States monitor their waters g r am. 21 EP A

’s major monitoring activities by sampling fish tissue for persistent include the following: pollutants that bioaccumulate. States issue their guidelines voluntarily and • **EP A** 

**’s N ational Lak**  **e**

**Fish T issue**  h a v

e fl exibility in what crit eria they **Study 22**  **–** The National Study of use and how the data are collected. As Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue a result, there are significant variations (or National Lake Fish Tissue Study) is in the number of waters tested, the being conduct ed by EP A

’s Of f ice of pollutants tested for and the threshold W a ter (O W). It is a one-time scr eening- for issuing advisories. Based on selflevel study to sample contaminants in reporting, the national trend is for fish tissue in freshwater lakes and states to monitor different waters each r eser v oir s in the contiguous U .S., y ear , generally without r e t e s ting wat e rs including mer cur y as w ell as o ther monitored in previous years. States c hemicals. EP A will use the study issue fish consumption advisories toVI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 71 the public if elevated concentrations of c hemicals suc h as mer cur y ar e f ound in local f ish. EP A mak es inf ormation about fish advisories easily accessible to the public on its website.

• **EP A** 

**’s Ecological Monit oring to**  **Char act**  **erize the Condition of U .S.**  **Estuarine Resources –** As part of its N ational Coast al Assessment, EP A

’ s Office of Research and Development seeks to characterize the ecological condition of U .S. es tuarine resour ces through the collection and analysis of f ish tissue f or mer cur y (and various other contaminants) from estuaries thr oughout the U .S., at about 35–1 00 sites per year for each of twenty-three coastal states and Puerto Rico. The National Coastal Assessment data is a relatively new program in the Office of Research and Development, which is beginning to provide information on fish tissue toxics concentrations fr om selected U .S. es tuaries. ORD is currently reviewing these data to determine their usefulness for integration with exis ting EP A appr oac hes f o r assessing f ish tissue mer cur y concentrations and their changes over time due to both emissions and deposition changes. States are also actively engaged in moni toring f ish lev els of me th ylmer cur y in their waters. For example, the Alaska Depar tment of En vir onment al Conser vation has been conducting a multi-year study of safety of fish and seafood re sources in Alaska waters with respect to cont aminants. EP A R egion 1 0 secur ed funding for Alaska to perform additional PBT organic analyses, including methylmer cur y , and a f inal r epor t is pending. This monitoring project is ongoing. Human Biomonitoring Routine monitoring of human tissue samples is needed to track long-term tr ends in the lev els of mer cur y exposur e of people in the U .S. o v

er time and geo graphic space. CDC collects data on human tissue, including blood, hair , and urine. Such human biomonitoring may be the most meaningful long-term indicator of the effectiveness of programs for r educing risks associated with mer cur y releases and exposure. It is also useful in setting priorities for future research and for risk communication strategies and activities to r educe mer cur y exposur e in the short-term. The lev el of meth ylmer cur y in blood is the best available indicator of human exposure to me th ylmer cur y thr ough fish consum p tion. Mer cur y blood lev els in w o men of childbearing age is an especially useful indicator of mer cur y exposur e, since this measure indicates both the actual exposure of adult women and the potential for exposure of fetuses through the transfer of maternal blood through the placenta. Other types of human tissue have been sam pled f or mer cur y suc h as hair , but so far they have been found less useful than blood levels. At the present time there is insufficient understanding of the relation ship of mer cur y in blood and hair to mer cur y lev els f ound in these o ther tissues. 24 The only source of nationwide information on me th ylmer cur y in humans is the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) , which is conducted by the U .S. Centers f or Disease Contr ol and Prevention (CDC) with financial support fr om EP A and o ther agencies. NHANES is a continuous sur v e y of the health and nutritional status of the civilian, non -72 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

ins titutionalized U .S. population, and dat a are released and reported in 2-year cycles. 25 In 1 999 NHANES began measuring mer cur y lev els in blood, hair , and urine for the first time in a national sample of childbearing-aged women and in children aged 1–5 year s in the U .S. The CDC’s report, published in 2003, provided the first nationally representative estimates of U .S. w omen’s and c hildren’s exposur es t o mer cur y based on biologic measur es. 26 In November 2004, the CDC published an updated summar y of NHANES dat a f o r the f our -year period 1 999 t o 2002. 27 These updated findings confirm that blood mer cur y lev els in women of c hildbearing age are usually below levels of concern, but that approximately six percent of child bearing-aged women had levels at or above EP A

’s R e f e r ence Dose (RfD). CDC plans to continue this NHANES mer cur y monit oring in futur e year s. NHANES 2005–2006 will include measur ements of mer cur y species (me th yl, ethyl, and inorganic) in blood in order to define more precisely the exposure to various sour ces of mer cur y . Blood mer cur y levels will be measured in persons (male and f emale) one-year and older , while urinar y mer cur y will be measur ed in per sons six y ear s of age and older

. 28

Recent EP A

Report s Utilizing Mercury Monitoring Data

• **America’s Children and the Environ****** **ment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burden, and Illness**  **29 –**  Pub lished in F ebruar y 2003, this is EP A

’ s second report on trends in environ mental factors related to the health and we ll-being of c hildren in the U .S. The r epor t brings toge ther , in one place, quantitative information from a variety of sources to show trends in levels of environmental contaminants in air , w a ter , f ood, and soil; concentrations of contaminants measured in the bodies of children and women; and c hildhood illnesses that ma y be inf lu enced by exposure to environmental contaminants. This second report pr ovides mer cur y inf ormation f or the first time. The section on body burdens includes a new measure of mer cur y in the blood of women of child-bearing age, using NHANES data. A new section on emerging issues presents information about important aspects of children’s environmental health for which data had recently become a vailable, including mer cur y in fish as an important source of mer cur y exposur e f or people in the U .S.

• **EP A** 

**’s Dra f**  **t Repor**  **t on the En vir**  **on****** **ment 2003 30**  **–** Published in June 2003, the r epor t pr esents EP A

’s f i rs t national pictur e of the U .S. en vir onment, including mer cur y cont amination. This report was the first step in the Agency’s Environmental Indicators Initiative, launched in November 200 1 , whic h seeks to identify be tt er indicator s that EP A can use to measur e and track the state of the environ ment and support improved environ mental decisionmaking. **F**

**uture f ocus and priority activities.**  EP A will continue to need reliable sources of r outine mer cur y monitoring dat a. Since monitoring activities are resource inten siv e, EP A will continue its curr ent str a tegy of focusing primarily on monitoring for a small number of key environmental and health indicators, and to leverage re sources by looking for opportunities to collaborate with other governmental andVI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring - 73 non-governmental entities where appro priate. In addition, the Agency plans to publish the following documents:

• **Final Results of EP A** 

**’s N ational Lak**  **e Fish Tissue Study –**  The final report will be published in 2006. EP A will use the study results to develop the first national estimate of mean concentrations f or mer cur y and 26 7 o ther chemicals in fish, to provide a baseline to track progress of pollution control activities, and to identify areas where contaminant levels are high enough to warrant further investigation.

• **EP A** 

**’s Repor t on the En**  **vir onment**  **200 7** 

**–** U nder EP A

’s En vironment al Indicators Initiative, the Agency will continue working to identify better indicators that EP A can use to measur e and track the state of the environ ment and support improved environ mental decisionmaking. The next report to present a national picture of the U .S. en vironment, planned f o r publication in 2007, will be providing additional em phasis on mer cur y indicators and information.74 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryAppendix - 75



# APPENDIX76 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryAppendix - 7778 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for MercuryEndnotes - 79

ENDNOTES

Introduction 1. “EP A Releases 1 2th Annual N ational Lis ting of Fish Advisories.” Pr ess release. A ugus t 2 4, 2004. 2. E P A , 2005c. U .S. En vir onment al Pr o t ection A gency. N a tional Listing of Fish Advisories. F act Shee t, Sep. 2005. EP A-823-F -05 - 004. Accessible at: http://epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advisories/fs2004.pdf. 3. T able 1: N ational Air Emissions In v

ent or y f or Mer cur y . Sour ce: EP A , 1 999a. 4

. Figur e 1: The Mer cur y Cycle. Adapt ed fr om EP A , 1 9 9 7 . Mercur y S tudy Repor t to Congr ess. EP A

-452/R-9 7-003, December 1 9 9 7

. Accessible at: www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/volume1.pdf. 5

. EP A , 200 1a. N R C, 2000. N ational Resear c h Council. T oxicological Ef f ects of Me th ylmer cur y . Committ ee on The T o xicological Ef f ects of Me th ylmer cur y , Boar d on En vir onment al S tudies and T o xicology . Accessible at: http://books.nap.edu/books/03090 7 1 402/html/1 .html. 6

. E P A , 1 9 9 7 . Mer cur y S tudy Repro t to Congr ess. EP A-452/R -9 7-003, December 1 9 9 7 . Accessible at : www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/volume1.pdf. 7. E P A , 1 9 9 7

. 8. E P A , 1 9 9 7

. 9. E P A , 2005a. T e c hnical Suppor t Document, R evision of December 2000 Regulator y Finding on the Emissions of Hazar dous Air P

ollut ants F r om Electric Utility S t eam Generating U nits and the R emoval of Coal- and Oil-Fir ed Electric Utility St eam Generating U nits fr om the §1 1 2(c) List : Reconsider ation, Oct. 2 1 , 2005. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/T SC-1 1 2 finaL.pdf. 1 0

. A Community Multiscale Air Quality ( CMAQ) modeling run was performed to estimate the impact of global sources on U.S. deposition estimates. For this analysis, all non-U.S. mercury input species to the model were set to zero. By comparing the res ults of this analysis with the 200 1 Clean Air Mer cur y R ule (CAMR) base case run, whic h included all U .S. and global mer cur y species, the percent of total mercury deposition attributable to global sources can be estimated. The model estimated that over 80 percent of total mercury deposition in the U.S. is attributable to global sources. Due to the evolving nature of mercury modeling science, such deposition estimates have associated uncertainties. For example, i t remains difficult to distinguish between the natural emissions of mercury and the re-emission of previously deposited anthropo genic mercury and there remains uncertainty in the scientific community concerning the atmospheric processes that control the oxidation state of atmospheric mercury. Thus, further advances in the current understanding of mercury chemistry could potentially lead to changes in the modeling parameters and assumptions governing the mercury chemistry in the models and therefore, changes in the estimate of the fraction deposited in the U.S. attributable to global sources. 1 1

. E P A , 2005a. I. Addressing Mercury Releases 1. E P A , 1 999a. 1 999 N ational Emissions In v

entor y Document ation and Dat a—Final V e r sion 3.0. Accessible at : www.epa.go v/ttn/c hief/net/1 999in v entor y .html. 2

. E P A , 1 999a. 3. T able 1: N ational Air Emissions In v

ent or y f or Mer cur y . Sour ce: EP A , 1 999a. 4

. President’s Clear Skies Legislation of 2003. For information, see: www.epa.gov/air/clearskies/. 5. E P A

. Clean Air Act rules on mer cur y emissions. F or inf ormation on EP A

’s activities t o contr ol power plant emissions, see: www.epa.gov/mercury/control_emissions/index.htm. 6. E P A , 1 999b. R esidual Risk Repor t to Congr ess. EP A 453/R-99-00 1 , Mar c h 1 999. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/risk_rep.pdf. F or inf ormation about EP A

’s Residual Risk Pr ogram, see: www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/rrisk/r esidriskpg.html. 7

. E P A

. N evada Mining P a r tnership Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/Region9/cr oss_pr/innovations/mining.html.80 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

8

. E P A , 2004a. 2003 Repor t on Success of V olunt a r y Mer cur y Reduction Pr ogram (VMRP) with N evada Gold Mines, October , 2004. Accessible at: www.epa.gov/region9/toxic/mercury/goldmine.pdf. 9

. 6 4 F eder al R egis t er 38 705, 7/1 9/99. 1 0

. E P A . Ar ea Sour ce St andar ds. F o r inf ormation, see: ww .epa.gov/ttn/atw/urban/ar earules.html. 1 1

. Ecology Cent e r , 200 1

. Ecology Cent e r , Gr eat Lak es U nited, and U nive r sity of T ennessee Center f or Clean Pr oducts and Clean T

e c hnologies. T o xics in V ehicles: Mer cur y . Accessible at: www .cleancar campaign.or g/pdfs/to xicsin v

ehicles_mer cur y .pdf. 1 2

. The estimat e is based on dat a gather ed from indus tr y b y EP A during the initial phase of EAF ar ea sour ce rulemaking whic h is s till under development. 1 3

. E P A

. National P ollut ant Disc har ge Elimination Sy st em (NPDES) Permits. F or inf ormation about this pr ogram, see: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/. 1 4

. Alpers, C.N . and M.P. Hunerlach, 2000. Mer cur y cont amination fr om hist oric gold mining in Calif ornia. USGS Fact Shee t FS 06 1-00. Accessible at : http://ca.wate r .usgs.gov/mer cur y/fs06 1 00.html. 1 5

. E P A , 2005b. 2003 T oxics Release In v

entor y (TRI) Public Dat a Release eRepor t, Ma y , 2005. Accessible at: www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri03/2003eReport.pdf. 1 6

. E P A , 2005b. 1 7

. E P A , 200 1b. W a ter Quality Criterion f or the Pr o t ection of Human Health: Meth ylmer cur y . EP A

-823-R0 1-00 1

. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/methylmercury/. 1 8

. E P A , 200 1a. 1 9

. 4 0 Code of F eder al R egulations 1 30.7

. 20. These st atis tics we re com piled fr om dat a r eceived b y EP A and a vailable on its T o t al Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) webpage accessible at: http://oaspub.epa.gov/waters/national_rept.control. 2 1

. E P A , 2005c. 22. E P A , 2 0 0 1 b

. 2 3

. These st atistics we r e compiled fr om dat a r eceived b y EP A and a vailable on its TMDL w ebpage accessible at : http://oaspub.epa.gov/waters/national_rept.control. 2 4

. 40 Code of F ederal Regulations 1 32 T able 4. 2 5

. The a v

erage was dev eloped by EP A based on ef fluent dat a repor t ed b y the EP A Region 5 s t ates: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Mic hig an, Minneso t aand Wisconsin. S t ates discuss ef fluent dat a in r epor ts on their web sites. F or ex a m ple: M i chigan: www.mic higan.gov/deq/0, 1 6 0 7,7-1 35-33 1 3_3686_3 728-1 1 384—,00.html. Wisconsin: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cea/mercury/potw.htm. Minnesota: www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/tmdl-mercuryplan.html. 2 6

. Cocca, P

. 200 1

. Mer cur y Maps: N ational Repor t on Human Exposur e to En vir onment al Chemicals. Publication N o. 0 1-03 79. 2 7

. Clean W a ter Act (F ederal W a ter Pollution Contr ol Act, as amended) §30 7(b); 33 U nited St at es Code §1 3 1 7

. 2 8

. L W

A , 2002. Larr y W alker Associat es. Mer cur y Sour ce Contr ol and P ollution Pr e v ention Evaluation, Final R epor t, Mar c h 2002, amended July 2002. Prepared for: Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. Accessible at: www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/mercgrant/finalreport.pdf. 29. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. For information about the San Francisco Dental Mercury Reduction Program, see: http://sfwater.org/main.cfm/MC_ID/4/MSC_ID/85. 30. E P A , 2005b. 3 1

. Surface impoundments include natural topographic depressions, man-made excavations and diked areas that primarily are made of earthen materials and which hold liquid wastes. These uncovered areas are commonly used to volatilize and/or settle material s. **Other surface impoundments are surface impoundments other than those which are authorized under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to accept hazardous waste for disposal.** Endnotes - 81

3 2

. Other land disposal is the disposal of the toxic chemical to land at the facility that does not fall into one of the other o n-site land r elease categories f ound in Section 5.5. 1 through 5.5.3 of the TRI F orm R. **Other disposal includes suc h activities as**  **placement in waste piles and spills or leaks.** Data from Section 5.5.4 on the TRI Form R. 3 3

. Mer cur y -Cont aining and Rec har geable Batt e r y Act, 42 U nited States Code 1 430 1 , and EP A U nive r sal W a st e R ule. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/univwast/regs.htm. 3 4

. E P A

. Municipal Incinerator R ules. F or inf ormation about Lar ge Municipal W a st e Combus t o r s, see: www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/129/mwc/rimwc.html. F or inf ormation about Small Municipal W a s t e Combust ors, see: www .epa.gov/ttn/atw/1 29/m wc/rim wc2.html. 3 5

. E P A

. U nive r sal W a s t e Regulations. F o r inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazw ast e/id/univwast/r egs.htm. 3 6

. 70 Federal Register 45508, 8/5/05. 3 7

. E P A

. Super fund N ational Priorities List. F or inf ormation on NPL Sit e Listing Pr ocess, see: www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm. 38. E P A

. R CRA Correctiv e Action Pr ogram. F or inf ormation on the program, see: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ca/backgnd.htm#5. 3 9

. Maine. An Act to Pre vent Mer cur y Emissions When R ecycling and Disposing of Mo t or V ehicles. Pr ovision t o r emov e mer cur y switches f ound at Sec. 3.38 Me.Re v

. Stat.Ann.tit. §1 665-A .3. Accessible at: http://janus.st a te.me.us/legis/r os/lom/LOM1 20th/5Pub65 1-700/Pub65 1-700-05.htm. 40. Ecology Cent e r , 200 1

. 4 1

. E P A , 2005d. Clean Air Mer cur y R

ule (CAMR) and Clean Air Inte r st a t e R ule (CAIR). F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/air/mercuryrule/. 42. 69 F ederal Regist er 2 1 1 98, 4/20/04

. 4 3

. 68 F eder al Regist er 70903, 1 2/1 9/03. 4 4

. 69 F ederal Regist er 2 1 906, 4/22/0 4

. 45. Cocca, P

. 200 1

. 64 F eder al R egist er 38 705, 7/1 9/99. II. Addressing Mercury Uses in Product s and Processes 1. Jasinski, S.M., 1 9 9 4. The Mat erials Flow of Mer cur y in the U nited St at es. U .S. Bur eau of Mines, Inf ormation Cir cular 9 4 1 2

. Accessible at : http://pubs.usgs.gov/usbmic/ic-9 4 1 2/. 2. Figur e 3: T o t al 200 1 U .S. Mer cur y Use in Pr oducts. Sour ce: La wr ence, Bruce, 200 1

. Be thlehem Appar atus Com pan y , Inc. P

e r sonal communication, June 22, 200 1

. 3. L a wr ence, 200 1 and The Chlorine Ins titut e, Inc., 2-006. 4. Figur e 4: U .S. Mer cur y Pr oduct and Pr ocess Use T r ends. Sour ces: F or 1 980 thr ough 1 9 9 7 : USGS. U .S. Geological Sur v ey

. Minerals Y earbook: Mer cur y , 1 9 9 4–200 1

. Accessible at : http://minerals.usgs.go v/minerals/pubs/commodity/mer cur y/. F or 200 1 : L a

wr ence, 200 1 and The Chlorine Ins titute, Inc., 2006. 5. En vir onment Canada and EP A , 1 9 9 7 . The Gr eat Lakes Binational T o xics S tr a t egy . Accessible at : www.epa.gov/glnpo/p2/bns.html. 6. En vir onment Canada and EP A , 200 4. Gr eat Lakes Binational T oxics Str a tegy 2004 Annual Pr ogr ess Repor t. Accessible at : http://binational.net/bns/2004/index.html. 7

. The Chlorine Ins titut e, Inc., 2006. Ninth Annual R epor t to EP A f or the Y ear 2005, Ma y 1 5, 2006. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/region5/air/mercury/9thcl2report.pdf. 8

. H2E. Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. For information, see: www.h2e-online.org/. 9

. F or inf ormation about legislation to r educe mer cur y in the N ew England s t ates, see: IMER C. Inte r st ate Mer cur y Education and Reduction Clearinghouse at: www.newmoa.org/newmoa/ntdocs/prevention/mercury/imerc.cfm.82 - EP A

’ s Roadmap for Mercury

1 0

. Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, 2002. Summary of School Mercury Programs in New England and Eas t ern Canada. A ugus t 2002. Accessible at : www.cap-cpma.ca/images/pdf/eng/1 0-mtf_sc hool_sur v ey_e.pdf. 1 1

. The Chlorine Institute, Inc., 2006. 1 2

. IMER C. F o r inf ormation, see: www .newmoa.org/N ewmoa/htdocs/pr e vention/mer cur y/imer c.cfm. 1 3

. E P A

. En vir onment ally Pre f e r able Pur c hasing, Dat abase of En vir onment al Inf ormation f or Pr oducts and Ser vices. F or inf ormation, see: http://yosemite1.epa.gov/oppt/eppstand2.nsf/Pages/Homepage.html?Open. 1 4

. E P A . Gr een Supplier s N e twor k

. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/p2/pr ograms/gsn.htm. 1 5

. E P A

. Sc hools Chemical Cleanout Cam paign (SC3). F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/epaosw er/osw/conser v e/clust e rs/sc hools/index.htm. 1 6

. E P A . N ational P a r tnership f or En vir onment al Priorities (NPEP) Pr ogram, The Mer cur y Challenge. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/mercchall.htm. III. Managing Commodity-Grade Mercury Supplies 1. L a wr ence, Bruce, 2002. Bethlehem Apparatus Com pan y , Inc. W orld Mer cur y Marke t(s) Fr om the Supply Side. Pr esent ation at conference: Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, MA, May 1–3, 2002. Accessible at: www.newmoa.org/Newmoa/htdocs/prevention/mercury/breakingcycle/toc.cfm. 2

. Maxson, P

. A ., 200 4 Mer cur y Flo w s Repor t : Mer cur y Flow s in Eur ope and the W orld, The Im pact of Decommissioned Chloralkali Plants. European Commission. Accessible at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/chemicals/mercury/pdf/report.pdf. 3. Maxson, 2004. 4. The Chlorine Institute, Inc., 2006. 5

. 69 F eder al Regist er 23 733, 4/30/04

. 6

. Quicksilver Caucus, 2003. Mercury Stewardship Storage of Mercury, October 2003. Accessible at: www .ecos.org/files/72 1_file_QSC_S T OR_Oct_03.pdf 7

. E P A , 2005f. Economic and En vir onment al Analy sis of T e c hnologies to T r eat Mer cur y and Dispose in a W a st e Cont ainment F acility. See: www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/pubs/600r05 1 5 7/600r05 1 5 7 .pdf. 8

. E P A

. Mer cur y La w s and Regulations. F or inf ormation on ho w mer cur y is r egulated under R CRA , see: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/reg_stand.htm. I V

. Communicating to the Public About Mercury Exposure Risks 1

. Figur e 1: The Mer cur y Cycle. Adapt ed fr om EP A , 1 9 9 7 . Mer cur y S tudy Repor t to Congr ess. EP A-452/R -9 7-003, December 1 9 9 7

. Accessible at: www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/volume1.pdf. 2. E P A and FD A , 2004. What Y ou N eed t o Know A bout Mer cur y in Fish and Shellf ish. EP A

-823-F -0 4-009. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html. 3. E P A , 2005c. 4. “EP A Releases 1 2th Annual N ational Lis ting of Fish Advisories.” Pr ess release. A ugus t 2 4, 200 4. 5. E P A , 2002a. T ask F o r ce on Ritualistic Uses of Mer cur y Repor t, Dec. 2002. EP A

- 5 40-R-0 1-005. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/superfund/action/community/mercury.pdf. 6

. E P A

. Mer cur y W eb site. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/mer cur y/. 7

. Minneso t a Pollution Contr ol A gency . Mer cur y - Fr ee Zone Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: www.pca.state.mn.us/programs/mercury-free/. V

. Addressing International Mercury Sources 1

. Figur e 5: Wher e ar e Man-Made Mer cur y Emissions Originating? Sour ce of figur e: P acyna, J., S. Wilson, F

. St eenhuisen and E. Pacyna. 2005. Spatially Distributed Inventories of Global Anthropogenic Emissions of Mercury to the Atmosphere. Accessible at: (www.amap.no/Resour ces/HgEmissions/). Original f igure pr esent ed cour t esy of AMAP, Ar ctic Monit oring and Assessment Programme, Oslo, Norway.Endnotes - 83

2. E P A , 2005a. 3. Figur e 6: Man-Made Air Emissions of Mer cur y : Distribution b y Region in 1 990 and 2000. Sour ce: P acyna, J. and J. Munthe, 2004. Summar y of r esear c hpr ojects on mer cur y conduct ed b y resear c h e r s in N o r w a y and Sweden. Presentation at W o rkshop on Mercury, Brussels, March 29–30, 2004. Accessible at: www.ivl.se/nytt/konferenser/mercury/pacyna.pdf. 4. UNEP , 2002. U nited N ations En vir onment Pr ogramme. Global Mer cur y Assessment. Accessible at : www. chem.unep.ch/mer cur y/Repor t/GMA -r epor t- T OC.htm. 5

. E P A es timate based on UNEP 2002. 6. EIA, 2004. Energy Information Administration. International Energy Outlook 2004 (annual report). Report #DOE/EIA0484(2004), April, 2004. Accessible at: www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/. 7

. UNEP , 2002. 8. V eiga, M. and R. Bake r , 200 4. Pr o t ocols f or En vir onment al and Health Assessment of Mer cur y Re leased b y Ar tisanal and Smallscale Gold Miners, Report to the Global Mercury Project: Removal to Barriers of Introduction to Cleaner Artisanal Gold Mining and Extraction T e c hnologies, GEF/UNDP/UNIDO, Vienna, A u s tria, 1 70. Accessible at : www.unit es.uqam.ca/gmf/intr ane t/gmp/files/doc/gmp/Pr ot ocols_f or_En vir onment al%20_Assessment_2005_08_1 1 .pdf. 9. V eiga, M.M. and J.J. Hint on, 2002. A bandoned Ar tisanal Gold Mines in the Brazilian Amazon: A Legacy of Mer cur y Pollution. Natural Resources Forum, February, 2002. 1 0

. UNEP , 2002. 1 1

. This estimate is based on communication with The Chlorine Institute and review of the following two pamphlets: The Chlorine Ins titute, Inc., 2004b. P a mphle t 1 0, N o r th American Chlor - Alk ali Indus tr y Plants and Pr oduction Dat a Repor t 2003, U pdate d June, 2004. The Chlorine Ins titute, Inc., 2004c. P a mphle t 1 6, Chlor - Alk ali Plants Outside N o r th America, U pdat ed October 2004. 1 2

. Source of 2,000 estimate is Lawrence, 2002. Source of 3,400 estimate is Maxson, 2004. 1 3

. Figure 7: Global Mercury Consumption, 2000. Source: Maxson, 2004. 1 4

. E n vir onment Canada and EP A , 2005. Gr eat Lakes Binational T o xics S tr a t egy: Assessment of Level 1 Subs t a nces, Summar y Report. Accessible at: http://binational.net/bns/2005/iindex.html. 1 5

. Conference of New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers, 2003. Report to the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers on Mercury Projects, August 2003. Accessible at: http://cap-cpma.ca/images/pdf/eng/2003reportmercury.pdf. 1 6

. CEC. Commission for Environmental Cooperation. North American Regional Action Plan on Mercury. Accessible at: www.cec.org/programs_projects/pollutants_health/smoc/merc134.cfm?varlan=english. 1 7

. UNECE, 1 998. U nited N ations Economic Commission f or Eur ope. Con v

ention on Long-Range T r ansboundar y Air Pollution. Protocol on Heavy Metals. Accessible at: www.unece.org/env/lrtap/hm_h1.htm. 1 8

. UNEP Mercury Programme. For information, see: www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/default.htm. 1 9

. UNEP , 2005. Results of the Gov erning Council’s discussions on c hemicals management, including mer cur y p r ogramme, at its 23rd session in February, 2005. Accessible at: www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/GC23-results.htm. 2 0

. UNEP Mercury Programme Partnerships. For information, see: www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/partnerships/default.htm. 2 1

. UNIDO. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Global Mercury Project. For information, see: www.unido.or g/en/doc/45 7 1

. 2 2

. AMAP . Ar ctic Monitoring and Assessment Pr ogramme. For inf ormation, see: www.amap.no/. 2 3

. UNEP . Basel Con v

ention. F or inf ormation, see: www.basel.int/index.html. VI. Conducting Mercury Research and Monitoring 1. E P A , 2000. Mer cur y Resear c h S tr a t egy . EP A

-600-R-00-0 73. Accessible at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=20853. 2

. E P A , 2003a. Mer cur y Resear c h Multi- Y

ear Plan. Accessible at: www .epa.gov/osp/m yp/mer cur y .pdf.84 - EP A

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. Science T o Ac hieve Results (S T AR) Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abs tracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.displa y / r f a_id/1 09. http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/research.display/rpt/abs/rfa_id/2. 4. USGS. The Mercury Roundtable. For information, see: http://minerals.usgs.gov/mercury/roundtable.html. 5. E P A , 2003d. Pe r f ormance and Cos t of Mer cur y and Multipollut ant Emission Contr ol T e c hnology Applications on Electric Utility Boilers; EP A/600/R-03/1 1 0; October , 2003. Srivast a va, R.K., J.E. St audt, and W

. Jozewicz, 200 4. Pr eliminar y Estimat es of Pe r f ormance and Cost of Mer cur y Emission Contr ol T e c hnology Applications on Electric Utility Boilers: An U pdat e. Pr epar ed f or pr esent ation at The Combined Po we r Plant Air P ollut ant Contr ol Mega Sym posium, W ashington, DC, A ugus t 30–Sept ember 2, 2004. 6. E P A , 2005a. 7

. E P A , 2005a. 8. www.epa.gov/mercury. 9

. Revision of December 2000 Regulator y Finding on the Emissions of Hazar dous Air Pollut ants Fr om Electric Utility St eam Generating U nits and the Removal of Coal- and Oil-Fir ed Electric Utility St eam Generating U nits fr om the Section 1 1 2(c) Lis t” (The Section 1 1 2(n) Revision R ule) (70 FR 1 599 4 (Mar . 29, 2005) and “St andar ds of Pe r f ormance f or N ew and Exis ting St ation a r y Sour ces: Electric Utility S t eam Generating U nits” (“ The Clean Air Mercur y R ule” or “C AMR”) (70 FR 28606 (Ma y 1 8, 2005). 1 0

. Landis, M.S., R.K. S t e v ens, F

. Shaedlic h, and E.M. Presbo, 2002. Dev elopment and Charact erization of an Annular Denuder Me thodology f or the Measur ement of Divalent Inorganic Reactive Mer cur y in Ambient Air . En vir onment al Science T e c hnology 26: 3000–3009. 1 1

. Bulloc k , R. and Br ehme, K. 2002. “ Atmospheric Mer cur y Simulation Using the CMAQ Model: F ormulation, Description, and Analysis of W e t Deposition Results”, A tmos. En vi., 36, pg. 2 1 35-2 1 46. 12. E P A , 2003d. Srivast a va, R.K., J.E. St audt, and W

. Jozewicz, 200 4. 1 3

. E P A , 2005e. Contr ol of Mer cur y Emissions fr om Coal-Fir ed Electric Utility Boilers: an U pdat e, 02/1 8/05. Accessible at : www.epa.go v/ttn/atw/utility/or d_whtpaper_hgcontr olt ec h_oar -2002-0056-6 1 4 1 .pdf. 1 4

. K osson, D.S., H.A . van der Sloo t, F

. Sanchez, F

. and A .C. Garr abrants, 2002. An Int egr ated F r amewo rk f

or Evaluating Leaching in W a st e Management and Utilization of Secondar y Materials. En vir onment al Engineering Science 1 9(3):1 59–20 4

. Thorneloe, S., 2003. Pr esent ation t o EP A Science Advisor y Boar d, En vir onment al Engineering Committee, W ashington, D.C., June 1 7, 2003. P

o t ential f or Cr oss-media T r ansf e r s fr om Management of Mer cur y-enric hed Coal Combus tion Residues. F eb. 1 8, 2005. A vailable thr ough www .r egulations.gov at EP A

-HQ-O AR-2002-0056/6 1 39. 1 5

. E P A

. Mer cur y Continuous Emission Monitors. F or inf ormation, see: www.epa.gov/etv/v erifications/vcenter1-1 1 .html. 1 6

. W ang, Q., D. Kim, D. Dion ysiou, G. Sorial and D. Timberlake, 200 4. “Sour ces and Remediation f or Mer cur y Cont amination in Aq uatic Sediments—A Lit eratur e Review ,” En vir onment al Pollution 1 3 1 (2004) 323–336. Kim, D., Q. W ang, G. Sorial, D. Dion ysiou and D. Timberlake, 200 4. “ A

Model Appr oach f or Evaluating Ef f ects of Remedial Actions on Mer cur y Speciation and T r anspor t in a Lake Sy st em,” Science of the T o t al En vir onment 32 7 (2004) 1–1 5. 1 7

. Randall, P .M., Chattopadh ya

y , S., and Ic kes, J.A , 200 4. Influence of pH and Oxidation-Reduction (Eh) P o t e ntial on the Dissolution of Mer cur y-Containing Mine W a s t es fr om the Sulfur Bank Mer cur y Mine, Minerals & Met allurgical Pr ocessing Journal 2 1:93–98, Ma y 2004. 1 8

. Randall, P .M, L. Br o wn, L. Desc haine, J. Dimar zio, G. K aiser , and J. Vier o w, 2004. Application of the Analytic Hier a r c h y P r ocess to Com par e Alt ernatives f or the Long- T

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o r t e r , S., e t al., 2004. T oxic Met als in the En vir onment : Thermodynamic Considerations f or Possible Immobilization S trategies f or Pb, Cd, As, and Hg, Critical Review s in En vir onment al Science and T e c hnology, 34:395–604

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A , 2002b. Pr eliminar y Analysis of Alternatives f or the Long T erm Management of Ex cess Mer cur y . EP A/600/R-03/048. Accessible at: www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/Pubs/600R03048/600R03048.html.Endnotes - 85

1 9

. Discussions of the fish sample data gathered by Region 8 will be included in the Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment for the Cheyenne River Basin Site. 2 0

. MDN . Mer cur y Deposition Monit oring N e tw ork

. NADP . N ational Air Deposition Monit oring Pr ogram. F or inf ormation see: http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/mdn/. 2 1

. F D A . U .S. F ood and Drug Administr ation. Mer cur y in Fish: FD A Monit oring Pr ogram. F or inf ormation, see: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/seamehg2.html. 2 2

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. Mahaf f e y , K.R., 2005. Exposur es to Mer cur y in the Americas. In: Pirr one, N

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. CDC. N ational Health and N utrition Ex amination Sur v ey , (NHANES). F or inf ormation, see: www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/growthcharts/charts.htm. 2 6

. CDC, 2003. Mer cur y , PP. 1 7 - 1 9 in Second N ational Repor t on Human Exposure to En vir onment al Chemicals, Januar y 2003. Accessible at: www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/2nd/. 2 7

. CDC, 2004. Blood Mer cur y Levels in Y oung Children and Childbearing–A ged W omen—U nited St a t es, 1 999–2002. Morbidity and Mor t ality W eekly R epor t, N ov ember 5, 2004/53(43):1 0 1 8–1 020. Accessible at : www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5343a5.htm. 2 8

. NHANES 2005-2006 Ethics Review Board Protocol. CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health and N utrition Ex amination Sur v ey

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. E P A , 2003b. America’s Children and the En vir onment : Measur es of Cont aminants, Body Bur den, and Illness. EP A 2 40-R -03 - 00 1 , F ebruar y 2003. Accessible at : www.epa.gov/en vir ohealth/c hildren/. 3 0

. E P A , 2003c. Draf t Repor t on the En vir onment. Accessible at : www .epa.gov/indicators/r oe/html/r oeT OC.htm.