Commission Cites Mercury Concerns for Great Lakes

The U.S. and Canada should promptly cut air emissions of mercury in the Great Lakes region, a binational commission said in a report released on Sept. 13. This eventually will lessen the need for mercury-related fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes, the International Joint Commission said. The commission issues a report on the lakes' water quality every other year. Mercury enters the Great Lakes from water discharges, disturbances of sediments that contain the metal, and atmospheric deposition, the commission said. Of greatest concern among all sources is the ionic form of mercury, which is emitted into the air by coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources within a few hundred miles of lakes and settles into their waters. Ionic mercury deposition accounts for much of the mercury present in Great Lakes organisms--and thus is largely the cause of mercury-related fish consumption advisories, the report said. The commission is calling for the U.S. and Canada to curb mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources, said Herb Gray, the organization's Canadian cochairman.