Image from museumca.org

Recently there have been a number of articles about mercury being found in streams and rivers and how fish are testing positive for mercury.  But do you know how to limit your exposure and protect yourself from mercury in the environment?

Here are some common places mercury can be found:  fish can contain mercury, you can have mercury in old fillings, when coal is burned it releases mercury into the air, some light bulbs contain mercury, paint can have mercury in it, batteries and thermometers can have mercury in them, etc.  How you are affected by that mercury of course depends on many factors including age, how long you are exposed to it, etc.

Let’s start with the biggest contributer to mercury exposure…the coal-burning factory. Per the EPA “Coal-burning power plants are the largest human-caused source of mercury emissions to the air in the United States, accounting for over 40 percect of all domestic human-caused mercury emissions.”  That’s a pretty big number, but one thing coal-burning power plants can immediately start doing is using Green Plus® liquid combustion catalyst.  Green Plus has been proven to reduce CO2, NOx and SO2.  It’s not the end-all solution, but it’s a start on reducing their harmful emissions.

Another example of mercury exposure is eating fish contaminated with high levels of mercury (which quite possibly came from those same coal-burning plants).  This has been known to cause damage to the immune and/or nervous system especially in babies or younger children.  And while the EPA recommends eating fish such as salmon and catfish (both commonly known to be low in mercury), they also state to check local advisories just to be safe.

Mercury found in old fillings can cause inflammation, bleeding gums, bone loss around the tooth and can leave a taste of metal in your mouth.  According to Mercuryfreenow.com, “It’s a scientific fact that toxic mercury vapor is continually being released from amalgam fillings. 80% of it enters your body and accumulates in it.”  You should also know that the material used to make up amalgam fillings is required to be placed in a hazardous waste container when it enters a dental office…do you really want that hazardous waste then put into your mouth?

Many light bulbs and thermometers contain small amounts of mercury.  But even though the amounts are small, if one of these were to break and release the mercury inside, it should be treated seriously.  Metallic mercury starts to evaporate when exposed to air and even just the few drops of mercury found in a light bulb or thermometer can fill a room with toxic vapors.  For information on cleaning up spills or disposing of products containing mercury, the EPA has a very good checklist that can be found on their website.

For more complete information on the causes, symptoms and prevention of mercury poisoning, check out this article on Medicine.net.  Face it, no matter where you live or what you do, you have probably come in contact with mercury at some point in your life.  Learn what you can do to limit the affect mercury has on you and your environment.

Image by theslowlane

There’s all this talk about “Clean Coal”, but how do you clean coal?  To be honest, I don’t really think you can.  How do you clean something that is so dirty?  Coal is a dirty substance, it’s dirty and messy from start to finish.  You can’t really argue that fact.  So, what can be done then about all the coal-fired power plants across the U.S. and around the world?

Well, that’s a different question.  Many people have their ideas about what to do, from shutting all coal-fired plants down to regulating them so they are accountable for significantly reducing their pollution, etc, etc.  But has anyone come up with anything that actually reduces the CO2 emissions and pollution that comes from burning the coal?

Yes, I’m happy to say Biofriendly Corporation has.  I know I’ve blogged about it before, but I thought it was something worth mentioning again, especially after President Obama talked about investing in clean coal tecnnologies in his recent speech,

“So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.  And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.”

Well, the good news is Biofriendly Corporation now has a liquid combustion catalyst that has been tested and proven to improve thermal efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in coal-fired power plants.  Trials showed reduction in unburned carbon (aka Loss on Ignition) of up to 55%.  So while we may never see “clean coal”, we can see coal being burned more completely and thus producing less harmful emissions.  Coal companies can now start doing something effective to lessen their harmful emissions.  It may not be the end-all solution, but it sure helps!!

(Sink is concrete with 50% recycled fly ash)  Image by Jeremy Levine Design

One of the top news stories recently is the Tennessee coal ash pond disaster and the fact that millions of tons of toxic coal ash is being stored in surface ponds across 32 different states.  The issue being that while power plants are apparently being more closely monitored to reduce harmful coal emissions and air pollution, their coal ash disposal isn’t being monitored hardly at all.  But can’t they recycle the coal ash rather than loading it into ponds?

The answer is yes, most of it can be recycled.  It can be used in the construction of bridges, highways, carpets, sinks, bowling balls, etc.  Per a report from CNBC about 126 million tons of coal ash was created last year and more than 50 million tons was recycled and turned into other products.

Per this same article, if you replaced a ton of cement with a ton of coal ash, due to the CO2 generated during cement production, using the coal ash would actually reduce the CO2 footprint.

But one of the factors in recycling coal ash is being able to reduce the harmful carbon emissions during the burning process so there is less unburned carbon in the fly ash.  With less unburned carbon in the fly ash, more of it can be recycled and put to use, rather than piling up in ponds waiting for potential disaster.

So, when it comes to regulating, maybe it would make sense to require plants to use a proven liquid combustion catalyst, like Green Plus® that improves thermal efficiency and reduces the volume of unburned carbon in the fly ash.  This way more coal ash could be recycled and less “stored” in ponds across the U.S.