Next Region 7 Mercury Task Force Call
Posted by gbertram in Conference/Workshop/Meeting on August 13th, 2010
The next conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, August 17, 2010 @ 2:00.
Topic:Mercury Management During Upgrades of Water/Wastewater Facilities
Questions? Contact Gary Bertram (913-551-7533) or Nancy Larson (316-660-0104)
Mercury Report Prepared for EPA Region 10
Posted by gbertram in Research/Study, Resource on July 28th, 2010
The report titled “Strategies for Preventing Elemental Mercury Exposure in Homes and Schools” was recently prepared for EPA Region 10.
The intent of the 148 page report is to provide information for States, Counties and local entities to help establish mercury awareness and collection programs. The report analyzes and summarizes strategies and funding mechanisms used around the country to develop these programs. Appendix B of the report inventories specific programs around the country.
Click Here to access the report.
EPA Promulgates Mercury SNUR
Posted by gbertram in Legislation on July 28th, 2010
EPA has promulgated a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to address flow meters, pyrometers and natural gas manometers. Mercury SNUR Final Rule FR 7-21-10
WHO and HCWH Report on Mercury-Free Health Care
Posted by gbertram in Research/Study on June 21st, 2010
The World Health Organization and Health Care Without Harm have prepared a two-year progress report titled “Toward the Tipping Point: WHO-WCWH Global Initiative to Substitute Mercury-Based Medical Devices in Health Care”.
A copy of the report may be found at http://www.noharm.org/lib/downloads/mercury/Toward_the_Tipping_Point.pdf
GAO Report on Herbal Dietary Supplements
Posted by gbertram in Research/Study on June 1st, 2010
2010-05-26.GAO report.Herbal Dietary Suuplements
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a study titled “HERBAL DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS: Examples of Deceptive or Questionable Marketing Practices and Potentially Dangerous Advice.” The study found that herbal supplements contain trace amounts of metals, including mercury.
EPA Publishes Final Guidance for Implementing Methylmercury Fish Tissue Criterion
EPA has published final guidance for implementing methylmercury fish tissue criterion, as well as a fact sheet. The Guidance helps states and tribes adopt and implement a methylmercury water quality criterion expressed as a fish tissue value. It consolidates existing EPA guidance and practice relevant to methylmercury and also includes new information, such as alternative approaches for implementing the new methylmercury criterion where bioaccumulation data are not available for developing a water column translation and NPDES permits must be issued.
The guidance document may be found at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/methylmercury/index.html
The 10th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)
Posted by gbertram in Conference/Workshop/Meeting on April 23rd, 2010
The 10th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) will take place at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from July 24-29, 2011.
The theme for this upcoming meeting is Air, Land, Sea, and Me, and will draw from Nova Scotia’s maritime roots to explore how mercury transport and accumulation in the air, land and sea can translate into exposure and harmful effects on the health of humans and wildlife. Conference presentations will highlight the most current scientific understanding of mercury in the environment and will focus on how best to reduce mercury’s impact through improved public policy.
You may visit the conference website at www.mercury2011.org for further information.
Online registration for the conference will begin on August 1, 2010. Early registration rates will apply to those who register by April 30, 2011, after which point the full conference registration rates will apply. Registration rates will be confirmed within the next several months.
Dental Amalgam Added to EPA’s Mercury Portal
EPA has recently added information on dental amalgam to it’s mercury portal page (www.epa.gov/mercury). The dental amalgam information may be found at http://www.epa.gov/mercury/dentalamalgam.html
Energy Star Fact Sheet – CFLs & Mercury (July 2008)
The EnergyStar program developed a fact sheet which discusses mercury in CFLs…as well as comparing CFLs and incandescents regarding mercury emissions. You may find the fact sheet at http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf
House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform Requests Mercury Plan
Posted by gbertram in News, Research/Study on February 2nd, 2010
In a letter dated January 15, 2010, the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform requests the EPA to prepare a plan which will “reevaluate and update its own mercury emissions factors for wastewater sludge incineration and crematoria, and establish mercury emissions factors for: sludge that is landfilled or spread on agricultural or forest land, or that is dried before it is used as fertilizer; infectious and hazardous waste; general municipal waste; human respiration; waste removed as grit and fines at wastewater treatment plants and disposed of in a variety of ways, and combined sewer overflows.”
A copy of the letter: 2010-01-15congressional-requesthg-emissions-from-dental-amalgamkucinich
Click here for a copy of the House Staff Report on Dental Mercury Emissions.
