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U.N. Kills Any Plans to Use Mercury as a Rocket Propellant

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A recent United Nations provision has banned the use of mercury in spacecraft propellant. Although no private company has actually used mercury propellant in a launched spacecraft, the possibility was alarming enough—and the dangers extreme enough—that the ban was enacted just a few years after one U.S.-based Mercury is a neurotoxin.

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UN: global e-waste surging; up 21% in 5 years

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million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in just five years, according to the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020. of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled. According to the report, Asia generated the greatest volume of e-waste in 2019—some 24.9 A record 53.6 Only 17.4%

Waste 259
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Biden Administration puts 20-year ban on mining in 225k acres in northeastern Minnesota; huge blow to Twin Metals copper project

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Then, in May 2019, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) renewed two hardrock mineral leases within the watershed held by Franconia Minerals (US) LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Twin Metals Minnesota, for the third time (called the Jorjani Opinion). The Regional Forester thus cancelled the application for withdrawal in September 2018.

Minnesota 418
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EPA proposes rules for chemicals and fuels made from plastic waste-based feedstocks

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The plastic-based feedstocks used to make these fuels were reviewed and approved by EPA in 2015 and 2019. However, EPA knew less about impurities that may be included in plastic-based feedstocks in 2015 and 2019 than it does today.

Waste 284
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Exposure to airborne metal pollution associated with increased risk of mortality

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These samples are analysed in the laboratory to measure the presence of 13 elements: aluminium, arsenic, calcium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, sodium, nickel, lead, vanadium and zinc. The metals deemed to be of anthropogenic origin were cadmium, copper, mercury, lead and zinc. Environment International. 2019.05.004.

Pollution 236
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Continental presents action plan for immediately reducing lead in electronic components in cars

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There has been a slight excess of lead in some Continental electronic components, most of which have been delivered since 2016, identified by Continental and immediately reported to the authorities at the beginning of June 2019. It sets limits on certain materials for vehicles, such as the heavy metals lead, mercury and cadmium.

Legal 207
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5 Big Ideas for High-Temperature Superconductors

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In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes plunged a mercury wire into liquid helium and noticed that the wire’s electrical resistance vanished. Jan Meier/Fraunhofer IWES PROOF OF CONCEPT: The European Union–funded EcoSwing project, completed in 2019, installed a 3.6-MW The wire had become a “superconductor.”

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