RE: Mercury

["Jim Otton" <jkotton@usgs.gov>]

Radsafers,

The USGS has done and continues to do extensive research on mercury.  For

information on USGS activities and summaries of results of studies, please

see

http://minerals.usgs.gov/mercury/

http://water.usgs.gov/wid/FS_216-95/FS_216-95.html

The webpages and links offer some comment on sources, natural versus

anthropogenic, fate and transport, toxicology, and so on.



Jim Otton



-----Original Message-----

From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of jjcohen

Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 9:35 AM

To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: Mercury scam?





      Radsafers,

      There is an alarming story in today's newspaper about increasing

levels

  of mercury pollution in seafood causing many assorted ills including

autism

  in children. This prompted me to do a quick and dirty calculation which

  indicates that any increased mercury levels in seawater  have not resulted

  from human activities and may, in fact,  not have occurred at all..

  I would appreciate if someone would check out my logic and calculation to

  see if it is correct

  (it may be hard to believe, but I've been known to make mistakes).

      During the last few years the estimated worldwide production of

Mercury

  has been  about 1000 tons/a. Conservatively assuming that this rate of

  production had been going on for the last 1000 years, mankind has produced

  a total of about one million tons. Assuming that if instead of using this

  mercury for anything practical, it were all committed to waste and dumped

  into the ocean, it would only account for ~ 0.3 of 1.0% of current oceanic

  mercury levels.

  (The typical concentration of Hg in seawater is 0.0003ppm ( 0.3 mg/ton/).

  The total mass  of seawater is ~1.0 E 18 tons. Therefore, the total mass

of

  oceanic mercury would be ~ 300 million tons).

      If this assessment is anywhere near accurate it would mean that: (1)

The

  anthropic contribution to oceanic mercury levels is trivial, (2) whatever

  effect is being caused by oceanic mercury has been going on for centuries,

  and (3) the current hysteria has no logical basis.

  Is it possible that EPA is pulling another scam on the public  similar

that

  with low-dose radiation????







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