Good article on the mercury now poisoning us

[firefox]

I had always wondered why it was said more mercury was released producing chlorine than from coal burned at steam plants. The mercury is used in brine to free the chlorine in salt. This is a three page article that should put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence "Mercury is poisoning us!" This article also says that there has never been research into what mercury amalgams used by dentist do to people. The link to the first page is http://www.discover.com/issues/mar-05/features/our-preferred-poison/?page=1

Our Preferred Poison
A little mercury is all that humans need to do away with themselves quietly, slowly, and surely
By Karen Wright
Illustration by Don Foley
DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 03 | March 2005 | Biology & Medicine

Let’s start with a straightforward fact:

Mercury is unimaginably toxic and dangerous.

A single drop on a human hand can be irreversibly fatal.

A single drop in a large lake can make all

the fish in it unsafe to eat.



Often referred to as quicksilver, mercury is the only common metal that is liquid at room temperature. Alchemists, including the young Sir Isaac Newton, believed it was the source of gold. In the modern era, it became a common ingredient of paints, diuretics, pesticides, batteries, fluorescent lightbulbs, skin creams, antifungal agents, vaccines for children, and of course, thermometers. There is probably some in your mouth right now: So-called silver dental fillings are half mercury.



Mercury is also a by-product of many industrial processes. In the United States coal-fired power plants alone pump about 50 tons of it into the air each year. That mercury rains out of the sky into oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams, where it becomes concentrated in the flesh of fish, shellfish, seals, and whales. Last year the Food and Drug Administration determined there is so much mercury in the sea that women of childbearing age should severely limit their consumption of larger ocean fish. The warning comes too late for many mothers. A nationwide survey by the Centers for Disease Control shows that one in 12 women of childbearing age already have unsafe blood levels of mercury and that as many as 600,000 babies in the United States could be at risk. But that begs a critical question: At risk for what?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. I wonder what the effects would be...

If we completely banned mercury and mercury-based products and pollution from out environment? Like, what would be the effects on mood disorders, learning disorders and behavioral problems.

Over 10 years, I predict they would be profound.

[Ron Green]

2. When I was a kid I would go to the local pharmacy and give the druggist

$2 for a bottle of liquid mercury, which I would then rub on dimes, chase around on the floor, and otherwise play with. It seems remarkable to me that this element, now known to be so harmful, was sold to a little boy with no questions asked.

[faithnotgreed]

4. wow.. ive heard others talk of playing with liquid mercury

because they could make little play balls with it. usually it had broken from a thermometer or the like

i hadnt heard of being able to go buy it from the druggist to play with

some people are very susceptible to mercury and other poisons (just as some are more likely to get cancer or heart disease etc) and others who have stronger bodies and less stress among other factors are able to handle our toxic world

hope youre well

[Ron Green]

6. I just read through the article, and I don't think I was poisoned.

Elemental mercury, of which I had bottles full, doesn't easily get into the bloodstream as do some of the mercury compounds. However, if you break a mercury thermometer, I guess some of it can vaporize into the air, and that's a bigger problem.

[Worst Username Ever]

3. Kick

[sam sarrha]

5. coal fired generators dumped 801 tons of Uranium containing11,371 lbs U235

into the atmosphere along with 1,971 TONS of Radioactive Thorium in 1982. i figure there are a lot more running now..

Uranium is a Seriously TOXIC HEAVY METAL..when inhaled or ingested.

http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html

so are the coal companies trying to prevent having to deal with the fly-ash that is Radioactive, to save the extra cost of dealing with Hazardous materials.. ??

[lostnfound]

7. kick nt