Mercury And Air Toxics Standards

With the well-being of future generations in mind, environmental concerns have begun to establish a permanent residence atop the priority ladder for a vast array of Americans. Consequently, writers and political pundits alike are seizing this opportunity to capitalize on advocating their stance on the issue. Information, representing all positions, pours in at an unrelenting and unfathomable rate. For the average American it can be an arduous process sifting through all the rhetoric in attempt to find the real truth regarding our impact as humans on the environment; one such example is Susan Brown’s article The EPA’s Mercury Problem. In this article Brown attempts to expose hypocrisy among progressives by paralleling the Environmental Protection

Often times these more stringent standards are put in place by the EPA as federal standards after research and testing has been accomplished by those states. An example of this is the required use of Catalytic converters on pollution controlled motor vehicles in 1974 in California, two years later in 1976, the EPA required the use of Catalytic converters on all pollution controlled motor vehicles nationwide.

In Marietta, Ohio, a steel plant called Eramet has been pumping the air full of a toxic chemical called Manganese. The chemical is known to cause health problems, particularly damaging to neurochemical and motor function. When a study confirmed that manganese concentrations in the area were much higher than

In my opinion, all pollution standards should be tightened but over a period of time. I agree totally that pollution is out of hand at the current time, however it is a problem that has built up for many years and can’t be solved all at once. I feel that it is somewhat unfair to those companies who depend on their current status. By implementing procedures and regulations that are to occur over a period of time, it allows many companies to adjust gradually. I also feel that this policy of carbon trading should be eliminated. Although it does generate income for industries that currently comply, it allows many others to evade responsibility. I also feel that such things as public transportation and carpooling should be stressed. It provides an alternative that will drastically

Lastly, the Government is in charge of the laws and regulations that contribute to sustainable development such as how much resources companies can use and where they could get said resources. Furthermore, the Government will penalize or jail anyone that breaks the laws of the country.

There is a problem with the national government and trying to control how much power the state

There are three different chemical forms that mercury exists in and each has a specific effect on human health, however for the purpose of this paper only two will be talked about. The first is elemental mercury (Hg), which also called metallic mercury. In this form the primary health effect is when it is breathes as vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms of this kind include tremors, emotional changes, insomnia, neuromuscular changes, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, and performance deficits on tests of cognitive functions. At higher doses there can be kidney effects, respiratory failure, and even death. In this form it is emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, smelting plants, which is by far the leading man-made source of mercury in the Great Lakes. It is released into the air and transported by air currents and will eventually fall and be deposited in soil or water. This is particularly important to the people living in Michigan because in Detroit the mercury found in rain has been

Water is an essential quality in life that you need to live. Yet many people don't realize that how important it is in life until it could be taken away. John Thorson, a water rights and lawyer, says “ water links us to our neighbor in a way more profound and complex than any other.” It is a way people are connected around economically, socially, and environmentally. Some struggle to have clean water to drink and others can not find clean water at all.

In my opinion we have to have environmental regulations to sustain the environment we have today. Many people claim that these regulations restrict business which I think is true and so does Melanie J. Martin in one of her articles she states “Businesses may see certain environmental laws in a negative light if they must adapt their practices and increase spending to comply with regulations.” And if a company is struggling to make it by as it is I don’t think they will survive after paying out of pocket to comply with new regulations. The laws we have in place today in Texas I think get the job done and their not to extreme.

As already stated, many other locations around the world are affected by mercury poisoning and contamination. For example, Canada and Japan have an extensive history of mercury poisoning, including neurologic symptoms and contaminated fish. These studies have has been documented since the 1950’s in these locations. In fact, the contamination became so problematic the Ontario health department formed a task force on organic mercury in 1972. Further, recent protesting throughout Toronto has asked for Canada to address the contamination of mercury. Findings revealed levels of mercury exceeding those of international standards and included the highest recorded mercury contamination among in the western part of the world. (CITE 6)

In an article from The Washington Post on the 26th of January, 2009: “Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

In the air in particular, six commonly found air pollutants have decreased by more than 50 percent. Between 1970 and 1995 alone, the emissions major air pollutants decreased 30 percent. Air toxins from industrial plants have decreased by more than 70 percent. Today, more than 60 percent of America’s waters meet the fishable and swimmable goal of the Clean Water Act, up from only around 33 percent before the act was passed. While industries argue that the restrictions put on them have been too intense and stifled growth, since the passing of these bills the US GDP has tripled, energy consumption increased by 50 percent, and vehicle use increased by 200 percent. It is clear that without these acts in place it would be impossible to control the pollution in America with such fast social and economic growth in the

The article “Our Preferred Poison” in the March 2005 issue of Discover magazine brings up the issue dealing with mercury poisoning. The author, Karen Wright, writes, “Mercury is unimaginably toxic and dangerous. A single drop on a human hand can be irreversibly fatal. A single drop in a large lake can make all the fish in it unsafe to eat.” This was the opening statement in the article which first grabbed my attention, because I had not thought mercury to be such a deadly substance. After all, it is used in thermometers, so I hadn’t thought it to be as fatally toxic as Wright claims it to be.

The impacts of mercury pollution on the Earth are huge. It starts by affecting wildlife and fish and then those things are consumed by humans. There is severe brain damage that is occurring and drastically affecting society’s general IQ and earning power. The progression of society in some cultures is being halted because of this pollution. There have been a lot of governmental meetings regarding the subject, but little has changed. It seems as if there needs to be a great deal more of legislation regarding the matter.

Those are the kind of decision that the judge has to take, and it is very important that judges stay independent from the rest of the government, as it is his main role in the democracy, the impartiality. That is what we are going to study in the second part.