{"id":291845,"date":"2021-07-06T15:20:01","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T12:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mercury-pollution-significantly-higher-in-victoria\/"},"modified":"2021-07-06T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T12:20:01","slug":"mercury-pollution-significantly-higher-in-victoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mercury-pollution-significantly-higher-in-victoria\/","title":{"rendered":"#Mercury pollution significantly higher in Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Mercury pollution significantly higher in Victoria<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"Mercury
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“Historically lax” regulations around pollution control have led to much higher levels of mercury emission from coal-fired power stations in Victoria, according to a new study from The Australian National University (ANU).<\/p>\n

The study compared mercury levels in sediment from lakes close to power stations in the Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and the NSW Hunter Valley. <\/p>\n

According to lead author Dr. Larissa Schneider, there was a stark difference. <\/p>\n

“New South Wales and Victoria have historically had very different regulatory app<\/a>roaches. Victorian power stations have used “dirtier” coal\u2014or coal with a higher mercury concentration\u2014and had less efficient pollution control devices,” she said. <\/p>\n

“All of this adds up, power stations in the Latrobe Valley emit around 10 times more mercury than power stations in the Hunter.” <\/p>\n

Dr. Schneider says with Australia working to ratify the Minamata Convention, which outlines international guidelines on controlling mercury pollution, she believes it may be time to look at a more uniform approach that takes into account best practices. <\/p>\n

“Victoria has recently announced changes. If the Minamata Convention is ratified other states may be obliged to implement better pollution control technology<\/a>. This study shows how effective that can be,” Dr. Schneider said. <\/p>\n

“Regulating even basic pollution control technologies can lead to substantial reductions in environmental pollution.” <\/p>\n

The research has been published in Environmental Pollution<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

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A tale of two valleys: Latrobe and Hunter regions both have coal stations, but one has far worse mercury pollution\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n More information:<\/strong>
\n Larissa Schneider et al, Mercury atmospheric emission, deposition and isotopic fingerprinting from major coal-fired power plants in Australia: Insights from palaeo-environmental analysis from sediment cores, Environmental Pollution<\/i> (2021). DOI: 10.1016\/j.envpol.2021.117596<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
\n Provided by
\n Australian National University
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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Mercury pollution significantly higher in Victoria (2021, July 6)
\n retrieved 6 July 2021
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2021-07-mercury-pollution-significantly-higher-victoria.html<\/p>\n

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