National Mercury Issues
The 22nd Annual EPA Region
& Region VI Pretreatment
Association Workshop
August 9, 2006
Margie Nellor
Nellor Environmental Associates
National Mercury Quiz !
Background on Mercury
1. Who came up with the name
“mercury” for the metal?
a) No one knows
b) The Romans
c) Robert Boyle – the founding
father of chemistry
d) Isaac Newton
e) The Greeks
Answer: e) The Greeks
Greek Philosopher Theophrastus around 300 BC
2.
Which ancient civilization is
responsible for coining a term for
mercury that is the basis of its
chemical symbol?
a)
b)
c)
d)
China
India
Rome
Egypt
Answer: c) Rome
Hydrargyrum [Hy*drar"gy*rum] - for
watery or liquid silver
3.
If you swallow liquid mercury will it kill
you?
a) Yes
b) No
Little Willie from his mirror
Licked the mercury right off,
Thinking in his childish error
It would cure the whooping cough.
At the funeral his mother
Brightly said to Mrs. Brown:
“Twas a chilly day for Willie
When the mercury went down.
Harry Graham, Ruthless Rimes for Heartless Homes, 1899
Answer: b) No
4.
What is Kibyo?
a) A beauty cream used to whiten
skin
b) A fish know to contain large
amounts of mercury
c) Minamata disease
d) None of the above
Answer: c) Minamata disease
Muscular Contracture in the Fingers
References:
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec0361/index.htm
http://www.nimd.go.jp/english/
Mercury Sources
5.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Dental offices are the largest source of
mercury in wastewater. Which of the
following are not significant sources?
Hospitals
Laboratories
Human waste
Gray water
Industries
Schools/universities
g) b & f
h) b, e & f
Answer: h) Labs, industries, schools,
universities
Largest sources:
• Dental offices
• Human waste (feces & dietary)
• Household products
• Laundry gray water
• Hospitals
2002 NACWA Mercury Source Control &Pollution Prevention
Program Evaluation Final Report
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/mercgrant/
The Scoop on Poop
http://www.heptune.com/poop.
html#Photo%20Gallery
6. What soft drink, drink-mix or juice
has the highest concentration of
mercury ?
a) Cranberry Juice Concentrate
b) Orange Juice
c) Mega Mountain Twists Blastin’ Berry
Cherry
d) A Yellow Carbonated Soft Drink (12 oz
can)
e) Apple Juice
Answer: c) Mega Mountain Twists
Blastin’ Berry Cherry
No Brand Names
Mercury
6070 ng/kg
Evaluation of Domestic Sources of Mercury
NACWA August 2000
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/pubs/mercury/mercury.cfm
7.
Which of these mercury based
medicines were available until
recently?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Blue bill – laxative
Calomel – laxative, dusting powder for eczema
and anal itch
Channing’s solution – antiseptic
Golden eye ointment – conjunctivitis
Grey powder – laxative, syphilis
Mercuric cyanide solution – eye lotion
Mercuric nitrate solutions – removes warts
Mercury ointment – boils
Red mercuric iodide ointment – ringworm
All of the above
Answer: j) All of the above
Lincoln’s Little Blue Pills
Current problems: skin lightening creams
[http://www.nyc.gov/htm/doh/html/epi/mercury_sc.sh
tml]
Regulatory Issues
8.
What is EPA’s Water Quality Criterion
for the Protection of Human Health?
a) 50 ng/L total mercury
b) 0.3 milligrams per kilogram methyl
mercury in fish tissue
c) 12 ng/L total mercury
d) 1.3 ng/L mercury
e) a & b
Answer: b) Me Hg 0.3 mg/kg fish
tissue
• EPA-823-R-01-001 (Jan. 2001)
– To be used by States in establishing or updating
water quality standards within 5 years based on EPA
implementation guidance
9.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
It’s 2006 - how many states have
adopted the fish tissue human health
criterion?
None
One
Five
Seven
Nine
Answer: b) – One: Idaho
– Negotiated rulemaking
– Adopted criterion in April 2005 (0.3
mg/kg Me Hg)
• Based on an adult eating 17.5 g/day fish
(8-oz meal every other week).
– Adopted Implementation Guidance for
permits & TMDLs
– http://www.deq.state.id.us/water/data_r
eports/surface_water/monitoring/para
meters.cfm#merc
10. When is EPA’s Guidance for the Human
Health Criteria expected to be
released?
a)
b)
c)
d)
2006
2007
It’s already out
No one knows
Answer: d) – No one knows
– Draft developed in 2004
– Concepts used for Idaho rulemaking
– Hope to hear an update on the
schedule later this summer
11. What is the name of EPA’s latest
mercury plan?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Mercury Action Plan
Framework for Mercury
Roadmap for Mercury
Mercury Action Plan Template
Answer: c) – Roadmap for
Mercury
– Released July 2006
– Focuses on:
• Environmental releases
• Uses in products and industrial processes
• managing supplies
• communicating risks to the public
• International sources
• Research and monitoring
– http://www.epa.gov/mercury/roadmap.htm
12. In 1994, as part of the GLI, EPA did a mercury
study at 9 POTWs (one grab sample per
POTW, Method 1631) and found that 4
POTWS had effluent mercury levels below
detection. Which of the 4 POTWs has now
applied for a variance from the GLI wildlife
criteria of 1.3 ng/L?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
West Bay County, Michigan
Buchanan, Michigan
Luddington, Michigan
Delphos, Ohio
San Francisco, California
Answer: d) Delphos, Ohio
MERCURY VARIANCE
APPLICATION
PREPARED FOR:
THE CITY OF DELPHOS, OHIO
PREPARED BY:
POGGEMEYER DESIGN GROUP,
INC.
1168 NORTH MAIN STREET
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO 43402
JOB NO. 2280-130
JANUARY, 2002
REVISED: SEPTEMBER, 2002
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/guidance/MercVarAppExample.pdf
13. Which state has proposed the
lowest mercury wildlife water
quality criterion?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Maine
California
Wisconsin
New York
New Jersey
Answer: e) New Jersey – 0.53 ng/L
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
LAND USE MANAGEMENT
WATER MONITORING MANAGEMENT
Surface Water Quality Standards N.J.A.C. 7:9B
Proposed Amendments: N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.4, 1.5, 1.14,
and 1.15
Authorized By: Bradley M. Campbell,
Commissioner,
Department of Environmental Protection
Authority: N.J.S.A. 58:10A-1 et seq., 58:11A-1 et
seq., N.J.S.A.
13:1D-1 et seq.
Calendar Reference: See Summary below for
explanation of exception to
calendar requirement
DEP Docket Number: 28-02-10/347
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/wmm/sgwqt/7-9Bprop2002.pdf
14. Can you use BMPs as local limits
for mercury?
a) Yes
b) No
c) No one knows
Answer: a) Yes – Ex. 2000 Ohio
EPA Pretreatment Guidance
• Local limits may be narrative
• BMPs include: Substitution of materials,
reformulation/redesign of products, modification of
equipment, processes, etc., improvement in
management, operation, etc
•
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/guidance/guidance.html#Pretreatment
• NEORSD:
– “All industrial [i.e., non-residential] users that are
sources of mercury shall implement best
management practices (BMPs) … to minimize
discharges of mercury to the System.”
– “Certain industrial users and/or classes of
industrial users identified by the District as
significant … shall comply with District-issued
administrative orders requiring submittal and
implementation of BMP plans …”
15. Will the application of amalgam
separator programs allow POTWs
to achieve mercury effluent
concentrations below 1.3?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Yes
No
No will ever know
No one knows yet
Answer: d) No one knows yet
• NACWA Mercury Sampling Project
• Initiated in 2003 to evaluate
effectiveness of dental mercury
control programs
• Collecting biosolids and low-level
influent/effluent mercury data at
POTWs with dental amalgam
separator installation
• Report should be available end
2006
Trivia
16. What is the name of the mercurydetecting dog used by the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency to check
schools and other facilities for spilled
and "hidden" mercury?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Allen
Clancy
Hermes
Buddy
Killer
Answer: b) Clancy
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/programs/mercury-free/index.html
17. How much does it cost to clean up
a broken 8-foot fluorescent light
bulb ?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
$ 300,000
$ 120,000
$ 70,000
$ 25,000
$ 3,000
Answer: c) $70,000
Mercury From Broken Sylvania Bulb Costs
$70,000 to Clean-Up, Closes Library
Advocates call on lamp makers to inform
consumers about product risks
INDIANA, MUNCIE, Sep. 29 -/E-Wire/-- The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency attributes the
need for $70,000 in clean-up costs at a library in
East Central Indiana to the breakage of one Sylvania
8-foot fluorescent light bulb and subsequent
vacuuming of the mercury.
Starr Press, September 29, 2003
18. For mercury spills greater than
one pound ( > two tablespoons),
EPA mandates that you?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Call the National Response Center
Open all windows
Isolate the area
Turn down the temperature
Don't let anyone walk through the
mercury or vacuum
f) Answers b – e
Answer: a) Call the National
Response Center
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/spills.htm#less
19. What member of the U.S. House of
Representatives told participants
at a 2003 hearing that he/she
played with mercury as a child?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Nancy Pelosi, CA
Tom Delay, TX
Steven La Tourette, OH
John Tanner, TN
Dan Burton, IN
All of the above
Answer: e) Dan Burton
“I believe it was sound public
health policy to eliminate
mercury from thermometers,
blood pressure gauges,
cosmetics, light switches,
and mining operations. Yet,
despite those safety
precaution measures,
mercury is still widely used
by dentists as a restorative
material to fill cavities.”
http://reform.house.gov/WHR/Hearings/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=494
20. Approximately how many
abandoned mines in California
release mercury to the
environment?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
1,000
6,000
14,000
30,000
170,000
Answer: d) ~ 30,000
Sacramento Bee, October 19, 2003
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/7629516p-8570113c.html
21. What is the strangest way
someone has tried to use mercury
as a potential murder weapon?
a) As a cake decoration
b) Pouring mercury into a car’s
heating and air conditioning vents
c) Pouring it into a shoe
d) Switching calcium pills with
mercury tablets
If you answered d) you get
partial credit
Mercury
Sheila Carter
Stephanie Douglas
Forrester
If you answered b) you get
partial credit
Washington Post- July 5, 2000
The call to Howard County police on April 16 was
unusual: Marta Bradley reported she had found a
silvery liquid on the seats, carpets and dashboard of
her car parked outside her Laurel home. But police
investigators suspected this was more than
vandalism. They believed that someone was trying to
harm Bradley... Prosecutors say Chmurny, a PhD
chemist who has held several high-ranking positions
with area biotechnology firms, tried to poison Bradley
with mercury vapor by pouring the element into the
heating and air conditioning vents of her blue 1992
Ford Taurus.
Answer: c) Pouring mercury into a
shoe
Earlier this year (2003), the Cleveland Fire Department
delivered a one-quart jar containing 16 pounds of liquid
mercury to NEORSD’s mercury collection site. It had
been given to the Fire Department by the Cleveland
Police Department who did not know what to do with it.
According to the fireman who delivered it, the jar was
evidence in an attempted homicide case in which a man
had been trying to poison his wife by pouring the mercury
little-by-little into his wife's shoes. The fireman could not
provide any further details. Keith Linn presumes that the
homicide attempt failed, and only succeeded at making
the wife more irritable!
Tie Breakers
A. What television character ate
thermometers?
a) Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies
b) Dave Chapelle on the Dave Chapelle
show
c) Cartman on South Park
d) Uncle Fester on the Adams Family
Answer: d) Uncle Fester – he
ate them as snacks
http://www.tvland.com/shows/addamsfamily/episodes1.jhtml
B. Which psychic used mercury in
his/her routine?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Madame Blavatsky
Arthur Ford
Jeanne Dixon
Uri Geller
Miss Cleo
Answer: d) Uri Geller
C. What are these cake and
cookie decorations called?
a) Silver drops
b) Dragees
c) Crimpers
d) Nonpareils
Answer: b) Dragees [dra-ZHAY]
Come in a variety of sizes (from pinhead to 1/4-inch) and
colors, including silver
All silver ,gold and metallic colored dragees are not allowed
to ship to CA because of a lawsuit