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Chalmers team develops method to reduce levels of mercury in sulfuric acid

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Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a method that can reduce the levels of mercury in sulfuric acid by more than 90%, even from low levels. It is therefore a worldwide challenge that sulfuric acid often contains one of the most toxic substances: mercury.

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New analysis finds Asia produces twice as much mercury emissions as previously thought

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New analysis by an international team led by MIT researchers shows that Asia now releases a surprisingly large amount of anthropogenic mercury. The new analysis provides more accurate estimates of sources of mercury emissions around the world. The team’s top-down analysis improves on other models that take a bottom-up approach.

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Upper atmosphere facilitates changes that let mercury enter food chain

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New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain. Exposures to mercury can affect the human nervous system and harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system.

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Mercury Marine Launches New Lower-Emission Outboard Motors with Orbital FlexDI System

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Mercury Marine , the largest US outboard manufacturer, recently introduced two new OptiMax outboard models for the northern hemisphere summer. Both engines have been certified for the California 3 Star emission standards. Both engines have been certified for the California 3 Star emission standards. liter engine platform.

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Study finds heavy-petroleum fuels raising vanadium emissions; human emissions outpacing natural sources by factor of 1.7

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Human emissions of vanadium to atmosphere now exceed natural sources by a factor of 1.7 Breathing vanadium-rich aerosols has unknown but potentially adverse health impacts, according to the researchers, who note that the human impacts on the global vanadium cycle parallel impacts on the global cycles for lead and mercury.

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Inorganic mercury converted to more toxic and bio-accumulative monomethylmercury in ocean waters, possibly by microbes

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A team led by the University of Alberta has confirmed that inorganic mercury (Hg) found worldwide in ocean water is transformed into monomethylmercury (MMHg)—a potent and bio-accumulative neurotoxin—in the seawater. In a 1991 paper discussing concerns with mercury and monomethylmercury, William F. Fitzgerald and Thomas W.

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EIA: US energy-related CO2 emissions in 2012 lowest since 1994; reflects drop in coal use

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US energy-related CO 2 emissions in 2012 were the lowest since 1994, at 5.3 With the exception of 2010, emissions have declined every year since 2007. The largest drop in emissions in 2012 came from coal, which is used almost exclusively for electricity generation. Duke study.

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