National Mercury IssuesThe 22nd Annual EPA Region & Region VI Pretreatment Association WorkshopAugust 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 knowsb) The Romans c) Robert Boyle – the founding

father of chemistry d) Isaac Newtone) 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) China

b) India

c) Rome

d) 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 mirrorLicked the mercury right off,Thinking in his childish errorIt would cure the whooping cough.At the funeral his motherBrightly said to Mrs. Brown:“Twas a chilly day for WillieWhen 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.htmhttp://www.nimd.go.jp/english/

Mercury Sources

5. Dental offices are the largest source of mercury in wastewater. Which of the following are not significant sources?

a) Hospitalsb) Laboratoriesc) Human wasted) Gray watere) Industries f) Schools/universities

g) b & fh) b, e & f

Answer: h) Labs, industries, schools, universities

2002 NACWA Mercury Source Control &Pollution Prevention

Program Evaluation Final Report http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/mercgrant/

Largest sources:• Dental offices• Human waste (feces & dietary)• Household products• Laundry gray water• Hospitals

The Scoop on Poophttp://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 Juicec) Mega Mountain Twists Blastin’ Berry

Cherryd) A Yellow Carbonated Soft Drink (12 oz

can)e) Apple Juice

Answer: c) Mega Mountain Twists Blastin’ Berry Cherry

Evaluation of Domestic Sources of MercuryNACWA August 2000

http://www.amsa‑cleanwater.org/pubs/mercury/mercury.cfm

Mercury

6070 ng/kg

No Brand Names

7. Which of these mercury based medicines were available until recently?

a) Blue bill – laxativeb) Calomel – laxative, dusting powder for eczema

and anal itchc) Channing’s solution – antisepticd) Golden eye ointment – conjunctivitise) Grey powder – laxative, syphilisf) Mercuric cyanide solution – eye lotion g) Mercuric nitrate solutions – removes wartsh) Mercury ointment – boilsi) Red mercuric iodide ointment – ringwormj) All of the above

Answer: j) All of the above

Current problems: skin lightening creams [http://www.nyc.gov/htm/doh/html/epi/mercury_sc.shtml]

Lincoln’s Little Blue Pills

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

• 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. It’s 2006 - how many states have adopted the fish tissue human health criterion?

a) None

b) One

c) Five

d) Seven

e) 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_reports/surface_water/monitoring/parameters.cfm#merc

– 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_reports/surface_water/monitoring/parameters.cfm#merc

10. When is EPA’s Guidance for the Human Health Criteria expected to be released?

a) 2006

b) 2007

c) It’s already out

d) 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

– 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) Mercury Action Plan

b) Framework for Mercury

c) Roadmap for Mercury

d) 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

– 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) West Bay County, Michigan

b) Buchanan, Michigan

c) Luddington, Michigan

d) Delphos, Ohio

e) San Francisco, California

Answer: d) Delphos, OhioMERCURY VARIANCE

APPLICATIONPREPARED FOR:

THE CITY OF DELPHOS, OHIOPREPARED BY:

POGGEMEYER DESIGN GROUP, INC.

1168 NORTH MAIN STREETBOWLING GREEN, OHIO 43402

JOB NO. 2280-130JANUARY, 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) Maineb) California c) Wisconsin d) New York e) New Jersey

Answer: e) New Jersey – 0.53 ng/LDEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

LAND USE MANAGEMENTWATER MONITORING MANAGEMENT

Surface Water Quality Standards N.J.A.C. 7:9BProposed Amendments: N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.4, 1.5, 1.14,

and 1.15Authorized 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 tocalendar 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) Yesb) 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 [All industrial [i.ei.e., non-residential] users that are ., non-residential] users that are

sources of mercury shall implement best sources of mercury shall implement best management practices (BMPs) … to minimize management practices (BMPs) … to minimize discharges of mercury to the System.” discharges of mercury to the System.”

– ““Certain industrial users and/or classes of Certain industrial users and/or classes of industrial users identified by the District as industrial users identified by the District as significant … shall comply with District-issued significant … shall comply with District-issued administrative orders requiring submittal and administrative orders requiring submittal and implementation of BMP plans …”implementation of BMP plans …”

15. Will the application of amalgam separator programs allow POTWs to achieve mercury effluent concentrations below 1.3?

a) Yesb) No c) No will ever knowd) 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 mercury-detecting dog used by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to check schools and other facilities for spilled and "hidden" mercury?

a) Allen

b) Clancy

c) Hermes

d) Buddy

e) 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) $ 300,000

b) $ 120,000

c) $ 70,000

d) $ 25,000

e) $ 3,000

Answer: c) $70,000Mercury 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) Call the National Response Center

b) Open all windows

c) Isolate the area

d) Turn down the temperature

e) 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) Nancy Pelosi, CAb) Tom Delay, TXc) Steven La Tourette, OHd) John Tanner, TNe) Dan Burton, INf) 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) 1,000

b) 6,000

c) 14,000

d) 30,000

e) 170,000

Answer: d) ~ 30,000

Sacramento Bee, October 19, 2003http://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 CarterStephanie 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) Madame Blavatsky

b) Arthur Ford

c) Jeanne Dixon

d) Uri Geller

e) Miss Cleo

Answer: d) Uri Geller

C. What are these cake and cookie decorations called?

a) Silver dropsb) Drageesc) Crimpersd) 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