Global Mercury Issue Research, Elemental, Inorganic

South Asia (India, Indonesia & Philippines) First Draft
Lily Clarke, Rebecca Jacobson, Xinkai Ma, Johnathan Schiff, Bryan Schnapper, Jake Slye, Brian Trainor
https://jschiff.expressions.syr.edu/mercuryproject/
Intro:
Mercury is an element that is produced both naturally and by means of anthropogenic and travels throughout the atmosphere. Mercury is naturally present in the earth due to processes such as weathering of minerals containing mercury, volcanic eruptions and other geothermal activities such as remissions from the ocean. These natural-mercury-emitting processes only account for 10% of all the global mercury. It is the addition of mercury that is caused by coal burning, mining, chlor-alkali facilities, production of cement and gold mining that causes the main issue of contamination worldwide (Todorova 4). Mercury is such an important topic to study because an excess amount of mercury in the world’s environment can lead to a major impact for civilian health as well as a destruction of worldwide ecosystems. This report will be investigating the mercury pollution issue that is seen today throughout the world, and will include an in-depth focus on the South Asian region of the world, specifically India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Globally, mercury has caught the attention of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) governing council because of the increase in concentrations since 2005. Our research will have a focus on the scientific studies by UNEP Chemicals Branch that proves that long-range mercury transports contribute to global mercury pollution and that mercury persists in the environment due to its chemical properties and tends to bioaccumulate in the food chain, which ultimately leads to exposure to humans and wildlife.In coordination with the UNEP Governing Council, the goals of this mercury convention will focus on an attempt to agree upon a mercury treaty for the future that will have a focus on regulation of all emissions, to compose a list of products, processes and industries that need to be regulated in order to reduce their contribution towards the global mercury issue and lastly to establish time sensitive goals that will act towards limiting mercury emissions (Todorova 10).Southern Asia has a significant contribution to global mercury pollution, but also has great potential to make meaningful contributions in efforts to take control of mercury pollution. The three countries of focus within the South Asian region, India, Philippines and Indonesia each range greatly in populations, geographical orientations and socioeconomic statuses. As a result of this, each country significantly impacts mercury levels in a different way.
Global Mercury Issue:
Mercury emissions are 30% anthropogenic sources, 10% natural geologic sources, and 60% is inorganic mercury that is volatilized back into the atmosphere from soil and oceans. Mercury is emitted anthropogenically mainly from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), coal burning and other industrial sources of pollution.
Mercury in the atmosphere, whether it be elemental, inorganic or organic, has an effect on human health similar to other particulates in the air.
* Mercury poses a threat to human health because it is broken down into methylmercury through biological processes in seawater, which is taken up by marine life and consumed by humans.
Mercury in general is toxic, but its organic form is more toxic than inorganic forms; it is dangerous because of its accumulative properties.
Mercury is in almost all of fossil fuels, including gas and oil.
* The extraction and use of this material is a significant cause to the global mercury problem.
Mercury pollution stretches to all corners of the earth due to atmospheric circulation and oceanic currents, contaminating many forms of habitat and life along the way.
Mercury is very persistent in the environment because it has a cycle. The cycle is continuous and brings mercury back into the atmosphere.
* The mercury cycle starts when it is emitted by natural sources and human activities. After that, it moves around the atmosphere ranging from 6 months to 1 ½ years. It gets distributed in the land, different forms of water before it gets converted again to sediment. The bacteria changes it to methyl and goes to the food chain. The last part is it goes back to the atmosphere through the process of volatilization.
Mercury is always present in the atmosphere and its process is a continuous cycle affecting a lot of lives.
Mercury affects the health and it depends on the form of mercury a person is exposed to.
* Being acutely exposed to a lot of mercury causes tremors, memory loss, and reduced nerve functions. If a person inhales mercury, he or she can experience chest pain, renal failure, and breathing problems. Ingesting inorganic mercury leads to nausea, abdominal pains, and vomiting. It also causes kidney problems.
The presence of mercury in any form becomes detrimental to people’s health and large amounts of it can cause serious health problems.
Mercury coming from anthropogenic sources mostly come from industrial processes with high temperature when it is a major property in fuels, wastes and minerals (Sundseth, et.al, 2017).
* The evaporation of raw materials happens when the temperature is high while industrial goods are being produced, as well as fuel combustion, which enters the air in exhaust gases. Mercury concentration makes raw materials impure.
* Mercury that comes from secondary anthropogenic sources is mostly coming from being used intentionally in producing gold; regardless if it is artisanal or small-scale.
Mercury is part of production processes, even the ones used daily by humans. The inorganic form of mercury is also bad like organic mercury.
* Mercury is a main product and gold, copper, and zinc have it as a by-product. The production of mercury is from cinnabar. Cinnabar is a sulfide form of ore and when its sulfide content gets burned using a rotary kiln, it becomes crushed mercury ore. It is the combined with charcoal or coking coal that is then burned at above 300 degrees C (570 F). Oxygen gets pumped towards the furnace, mixes with sulfur, then emits sulfur dioxide that will create a vapor. The vapor is then gathered and cooled so it can be refined and turned into pure metal.
Mercury can be derived from several elements, which is why it can be difficult to contain its presence in the environment. It can easily be inhaled through the form of vapor.
Aside from its health effects, children who are being chronically exposed to mercury are in danger as well.
* It gives allergic syndrome like skin rashes, hypertension, pneumonia, fever, the hands and feet start to become pink while the skin gets peeled off.
* The organic form of mercury is found in methyl, dimethyl, ethyl, and organic phenyl groups. The methyl form of mercury gets absorbed by the body 6 times more compared to inorganic mercury. In addition to this, mercury crosses the placenta and enters the central nervous system (Emmanuel and Orris, n.d.).
* When Chisso Corporation dumped mercury in Minamata Bay in Japan from the year 1932 to 1968, it led to the development of Minamata disease which affected a significant number of people.
South Asia (India, Indonesia, Philippines) Mercury Issue:
South Asia is composed of India, Indonesia and the Philippines with a total population of 1,688,400,000. Unfortunately, South Asia is very crowded with a range in sanitation and wealth levels. This means there are some parts to South Asia which are in extreme poverty, whereas there other parts living in extreme wealth. Along with this, there are areas in South Asia which are very sanitary and healthy to live in, but unfortunately, there are also areas which are not healthy to reside in.
A large part of the South Asian economy relies on coal, oil and other industrial activities, due to this, South Asia contributes to 8% of the global mercury emissions. Breaking this down, coal production in South Asia releases roughly 0.6g/t yearly, whether that comes from residential, commercial or power plants. When it comes to oil, South Asia releases 0.001 g/t annually. This region’s biggest emission of mercury pollution comes from non-ferrous metal production, where 5g/t of emissions comes from copper, 3g/t comes from lead and 7g/t comes from zinc. Another emission of mercury comes from cement production which contributes to 0.1g/t a year, and pig iron and steel production add 0.04g/t. Another large contribution to mercury pollution is waste incineration, where 1g/t comes from municipal waste, and another 5g/t comes from sewage sludge waste. A few more areas that mercury pollution comes from in the researched region is mercury production, gold production, and caustic soda production which emit 0.2g/t, 0.025-0.027g/t, and 2.5 g/t respectively (Sloss 6).
As the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.2 billion people, India uses a large amount of energy. The need for a large amount of energy, yields a large production of emissions. Due to the growing population and booming economy, India is the second largest source of total mercury emissions on a global scale. Based on the AMAP global inventory for 2005, India produced 8.93% of the total global mercury emissions. Although India is the second largest producer of mercury emissions, India produces significantly less than the number one source. China is the number source of mercury emissions, producing 42.85% of total global mercury emissions.
With coal being the main source of energy in India, mercury emissions are primarily due to coal combustion. A total of 87% of mercury emissions in India are due to stationary combustion. Following China and the United States, India is the third highest producer of coal. Approximately 70% of heat and electricity is produced by indigenous Indian coal. Additional sources of energy in India include: oil, natural gas, and hydro power. Indian mercury emissions, however, are completely dependent on the amount of mercury content in the indigenous coal. Based on the 2008 AMAP inventory, total emissions due to stationary combustion is estimated to be approximately 140 tons per year.
Coals indigenous to India have higher mercury contents than coals found in other countries. Indian coals reportedly have mercury contents ranging from 0.11 mg/kg to as high as 0.80 mg/kg. It is possible for electrostatic precipitator (ESP) systems to make reductions in mercury content up to approximately 30% in some types of coals. The use of the ESP system, however, relies heavily on coal characteristics that Indian coal does not possess. One way to improve combustion performance is through a practice known as coal blending. By importing foreign coals and other fuels, India optimizes combustion performance, while limiting mercury emissions.
The non-ferrous metal industry in India is another contributor of mercury emissions. India has one of the world’s largest non-ferrous metal industries, and emissions from this industry account for 2.7% of the total mercury emissions in India. Mercury is located in sulfide o...