Mercury release rate dangerous, report says

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Dangerous levels of mercury are still being released into the environment and are winding up on dinner plates across America, a report revealed yesterday.

The report said five chlorine plants are emitting hundreds of pounds of mercury into the air every year using outdated technology to produce chlorine, a chemical used in everything from swimming pools to plastic tents.

On average, these five plants release four times more mercury per plant than the average coal-burning power plant, one of the world's other largest sources of mercury emissions, according to the report released by Oceana, an environmental advocacy group.

When mercury is released in the air, it settles into water or onto land where it can be washed into water. There, some microorganisms change it into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Once mercury enters the body, often through consumption of seafood, it acts as a neurotoxin and attacks the central nervous system.

According to EPA data from 1999, coal-fired electric power plants are the largest source of human-caused mercury air emissions in the United States, accounting for about 40 percent of total U.S. man-made mercury emissions. But other large sources are industrial boilers, the burning of hazardous waste and chlorine production.

"The focus on mercury has really been around the power plants because there are more power plants than chlorine factories ... but we identified a source that had been flying under the radar," said Jacqueline Savitz, director of Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination. "On average, these plants release 880 pounds of mercury through the air and these guys are big sources of mercury. They're the number-one source in Tennessee and Wisconsin."

The five plants are: Ashta Chemicals in Ashtabula, Ohio; Olin Corporation's two plants in Charleston, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.; PPG Industries in Natrium, W.Va., and ERCO Worldwide in Port Edwards, Wis.

The report studies 115 chlorine plants that are shifting or have shifted to mercury-free technology to produce their chemicals and even shows how the remaining "filthy five" U.S. plants can increase profits by modernizing their production technology and becoming mercury-free.

The report said the companies argue that mercury use is necessary to create high-quality caustic soda to be used in the manufacturing process of some fibers such as rayon, but mercury-free technology is now being used to create high-quality caustic soda and is being used in India.

One Wisconsin plant, ERCO, released a statement saying it was considering switching to mercury-free technology in 2006, but after failing to leverage a special electric rate in exchange for stopping the mercury releases with the state, it made no committed, Miss Savitz said.

More than 90 percent of the chlorine produced in the United States is made with mercury-free technology, and the report says that number is growing with two mercury-based plants converting to non-mercury-based technology by 2008.