China: A mercury megapolluter.Mercury is a trace contaminant contaminant /con·tam·i·nant/ (kon-tam´in-int) something that causes contamination. contaminant something that causes contamination. of most coal. The poison has been getting out, too. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and have found that coal-fired boilers are the biggest U.S. source of mercury pollution. They release some 40 tons of the metal into the air each year--or roughly one-third of U.S. mercury pollution from all sources. A new study finds that China's reliance on coal burning has made that nation a world leader in mercury emissions. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Simplified Chinese: 中国科学院; Pinyin: Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn), formerly known as Academia Sinica in Changchun calculate that in 1995, the most recent year for which data are available, China spewed nearly 215 tons of mercury into the air. Another 90 tons or so ended up in cinder cin·der n. 1. a. A burned or partly burned substance, such as coal, that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion. b. A partly charred substance that can burn further but without flame. and ash. Electric power production proved the biggest single mercury polluter, sending more than 70 tons skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. each year. Residential coal burning released only one-quarter as much. Manufacturing sectors together released another 100 tons. Overall, the researchers report in the July 1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, China emits one-twentieth of the world's mercury pollution, and its emissions of this metal are growing by about 5 percent annually. |
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