Mercury Contaminant

This has led to the water supply becoming tainted with arsenic, and other toxic chemicals, which has mutated the fish. It has also led to an increased number of cancer, and brain tumor patients in the town of Fort Chipewyan, due to their exposure to these toxins. The Alberta government claims that the tar sands development leaves the Athabasca Lake unaffected, but I don 't believe that for a minute. They say that any contamination found in the river comes from natural bitumen seeps. It is very obvious from the number of cancer patients in Fort Chipewyan, and the deformed fish from the lake that the tar sands is the cause. I believe that the tailings ponds used by the tar sands are not properly lined, and that is leading to their toxic contents contaminating the river. The Dene land was taken by the government for the development of the tar sands, without their consent. As such, the law states that the Dene have the right to hunt, and fish, on that land. The main reason that they hunt, and fish is for subsistence, as it is a traditional part of their way of life. Sadly, it will be no point in hunting, and fishing because the prey will be far too dangerous to eat, due to its exposure to toxic chemicals from the tar sands.

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

The oil production in Canada has several significant issues that depict the destruction nature of the industry. These issues can be categorized as environmental, political, economic, and social. The environmental issues lead the pack; in that the environmental destruction associated with the industry is extensive. The environmental problems are climatic, land, water and air related (Best & Hoberg, 2015). Under climatic effect, studies indicate that the development of the tar sides has resulted to three times more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than in production of conventional oil. These environmental issues are caused by the composition of the tar sands. Unlike the convention oil, tar sands are a mixture of bitumen and sand. The process of separating the two results triples GHGs emissions when compared to conventional oil production (Koring, 2013).

       The Alberta oil sands are a large contributor to the pollution of the air and water. They're responsible for 9.3% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions and 0.13% of global emissions. The oil sands already produce a large amount of air pollution but the emissions are

Oil pollution is causing cancer and other diseases. According to the text the oil might be damaging the health of those in its path. The text also states three studies show rising amounts of polluting chemicals in lakes and rivers near the oil sands. some cause cancer. According to http://www.dw.com/en/oil-boom-in-canada-health-and-environmental-damage-at-lake-athabasca/av-17437070 There is highly-toxic waste produced during the oil extraction process

The Alberta oil sands operations are the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gas in Canada. Therefore, as environmental concerns increase with amplified pollution, governments must ensure policies are in place as to avoid further environmental damage. Currently the government does not enforce enough environmental policies to properly protect this beautiful country and its people. Moreover, the alternative components of the oil sands business contribute an enormous amount of environmental destruction. Pipelines to transport crude oil from the refineries to cities across North America cut across sacred land and pipelines and freighters have high possibility of spillage. Furthermore, the damage to human health from water contamination and air pollution is a major concern, the oil sands business causes massive detriment to human wellbeing. Lastly, the surrounding area of the oil sands are deeply affected. The deforestation of the boreal forest and the toxic tailings ponds that surround the operation endanger wildlife and the environment.

The other adverse effect of the Canadian oil sands is that pipelines and massive processes of refining oil sands in Canada are a source of pollution that pose a great threat to air, water, and land as well as human health. Additionally, the use of its products like natural gas that is used to run medium-sized turbines that produce electricity releases greenhouse gases. These emissions are mostly produced when steam is injected to reduce the viscosity of the crude and during refining. These further increases to the global warming effect that is already out of hand and it also negates the gains made by society by exposing them to the adverse negative

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for safe exposure level to mercury are one-tenth of a microgram (mcg) per kilogram of body weight. Children received about 237 mcg of Thimerosal by two years old with the first 200 mcg administered before six months old. Thimerosal is an ethylmercury preservative (about 49.6 percent mercury by weight) used in vaccines to add shelf life to the vaccine. Thimerosal is about 50 times more toxic due to it being injected, there is no blood–brain barrier in infants, mercury clings to brain cells and nerves, and infants do not create bile therefore the mercury cannot be excreted. PDD-NOS are the largest group and are characterized by four other different disorders. The four disorders

The production of tar sands oil produces emissions that are three to four times higher than conventional oil. This is in part due to the large amount of energy required in the extraction and refining of the oil. Large quantities of heat, water, and chemicals are used to separate bitumen from sand, silt, and

Solar energy does not emit any of these gasses into our atmosphere. It also avoids polluting water, land and air which could threaten human and animal life. Coal power plants are the biggest producers of mercury in the us which has caused 44 states in the US to issue fish consumption advisories and warning because of the mercury laden on fish. Solar energy do not produce mercury.

Unfortunately, these pollutants can be carried in the atmosphere by weather systems. Thus, they can travel for hundreds of miles causing damage as they go. Acid deposits in the soil can have devastating affects in the forest. It gradually causes the loss of plant nutrients, calcium and magnesium. This leads to dying off of trees in the forest. Also, acid deposits in lakes and streams have led to a drop in fish production. Mercury is another source of pollution which can be harmful to humans and wildlife. It comes from the emissions of coal-burning power plants and is deposited into the air and water. This chemical damages the nervous system, and has a detrimental affect on reproduction and prenatal development.

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.

Today the Sudbury region is known for mining and production of nickel, as it is located just off the Canadian Shield region that holds a vast nickel reserves. Throughout the early 20th century, many mining and smelting venture such as Inco and Falconbridge were created to take advantage of the growing nickel industry. Both are these companies used a smelting process called heap roasting method to extract the nickel from the ore. However, Smelting process is the one main source of the sulphur fumes which caused acid rain (Buhr, 1998). This results from nickel production itself, where there is 8 more times of sulphur oxides particulate in the ore than actual nickel (Crawford, 1994). At the beginning of this century, the amount of SO2 released into the atmosphere weren’t much of a concern since the nickel output was considerably small. It later became a problem as the demand for nickel production was gradually increasing (Crawford, 1994). Up till the 1970’s, the Smelting industry in the Sudbury region was one of the largest metal producing complexes in the world, which meant that it also release a massive amount of Sulphur and metal particulates into the environment. By the 1960’s, the smelting site in Sudbury was one of the largest point source of SO2 emission releasing thousands of tons of metal particulates from the smelters as graph 1 displays. (Keller, Heneberry & Gunn, 1999). As more ground level of sulphur dioxide emission

Mercury is a volatile element and is highly toxic with limit of 0.1 mg m-3 in the air.

People can come in contact with mercury in a number of ways. There is increased risk of mercury exposure in the dental, health and chemical industries. People are also at risk of consuming an unsafe amount of mercury if they eat certain things in excess amounts, such as more than 6 ounces of albacore tuna per week, or over 12 ounces of fish like shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, pollock or catfish. Exposure to mercury can cause brain damage, kidney damage, lung damage and various digestive system problems (McCoy). Perhaps the person most vulnerable to mercury poisoning is the pregnant woman and her unborn fetus. Trauma caused to infants and children as a result of