What are the biggest sources of mercury air emissions?
According to EPA’s 1999 National Emissions Inventory, coal-fired electric power plants are the largest source of human-caused mercury air emissions in the U.S. These power plants account for about 40% of total U.S. manmade mercury emissions. Other large sources are industrial boilers (about 10% of U.S. mercury emissions), burning hazardous waste (about 5%), and chlorine production (also about 5%). Burning municipal waste and medical waste was once a large source of emissions but today, in response to EPA and State regulations and reductions in mercury use, these sources are much less important.Municipal waste combustors (MWCs) and medical waste incinerators (MWIs) were major sources of mercury air emissions in 1990, but implementation of EPA’s maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards has reduced emissions from each of these source categories to less than 5 percent of U.S. mercury emissions. How do people and wildlife become exposed to mercury? Mercury that is emitted to
