International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science

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Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions

Received: 23 October 2016    Accepted: 10 November 2016    Published: 08 December 2016
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Abstract

Mercury pollution has recently become a significant topic of conversation within the United States following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). MATS sought to regulate the pollution released from oil and coal-fired power plants, the top producers of mercury air pollution in the United States. Successful implementation of MATS would have effectively reduced the volume of elemental mercury released into the atmosphere, thereby, reducing the American populous’ exposure to the element’s more toxic form, methylmercury. This review assesses the current status of mercury emissions and the resulting exposure of the public to both elemental and methylmercury within the United States.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12
Published in International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science (Volume 1, Issue 1, November 2016)
Page(s) 7-12
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Methylmercury, Oil and Coal-Fired Power Plants, Pollution, Air Pollution, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)

References
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[6] Driscoll, C. T., Mason, R. P., Chan, H. M., Jacob, D. J., & Pirrone, N. (2013). Mercury as a global pollutant: Sources, pathways, and effects. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47, 4967-4983.
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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

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    Michael M. Persun. (2016). Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions. International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science, 1(1), 7-12. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12

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    ACS Style

    Michael M. Persun. Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions. Int. J. Energy Environ. Sci. 2016, 1(1), 7-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12

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    AMA Style

    Michael M. Persun. Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions. Int J Energy Environ Sci. 2016;1(1):7-12. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12,
      author = {Michael M. Persun},
      title = {Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions},
      journal = {International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science},
      volume = {1},
      number = {1},
      pages = {7-12},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20160101.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijees.20160101.12},
      abstract = {Mercury pollution has recently become a significant topic of conversation within the United States following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). MATS sought to regulate the pollution released from oil and coal-fired power plants, the top producers of mercury air pollution in the United States. Successful implementation of MATS would have effectively reduced the volume of elemental mercury released into the atmosphere, thereby, reducing the American populous’ exposure to the element’s more toxic form, methylmercury. This review assesses the current status of mercury emissions and the resulting exposure of the public to both elemental and methylmercury within the United States.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    Y1  - 2016/12/08
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    AB  - Mercury pollution has recently become a significant topic of conversation within the United States following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). MATS sought to regulate the pollution released from oil and coal-fired power plants, the top producers of mercury air pollution in the United States. Successful implementation of MATS would have effectively reduced the volume of elemental mercury released into the atmosphere, thereby, reducing the American populous’ exposure to the element’s more toxic form, methylmercury. This review assesses the current status of mercury emissions and the resulting exposure of the public to both elemental and methylmercury within the United States.
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