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Mercury

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For more information on Mercury, please contact:

Marti Otto
Technology Assessment Branch
(703) 603-8853
otto.martha@epa.gov

Policy and Guidance

Mercury regulations span multiple federal and state statutes, as well as multiple agency jurisdictions. For example, the EPA regulates mercury in pesticides, and mercury releases into the environment through air (Clean Air Act), water (Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act), and land disposal limits (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). The Food and Drug Administration regulates mercury in cosmetics, food, and dental products. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulates mercury air exposures in the workplace. With the exception of the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI), which specifically requires facilities to report chemical releases into all media, programs that require mercury release reporting are incorporated into broader regulatory programs.

Mercury is a teratogen (i.e., a substance capable of causing birth defects), and it also attacks the central nervous system. In the environment, mercury can bioaccumulate, reaching dangerous levels in fish at the top of the aquatic food chain. The states, U.S. Territories, and Native American tribes have primary responsibility for protecting their residents from the health risks of consuming contaminated noncommercially caught fish. They do this by issuing consumption advisories (fish advisories) for the general population, as well as for specific vulnerable subpopulations. States also have the flexibility to impose site-specific mercury regulations on individual sources.

Only a few examples of information generated by state governments have been captured here. The reader should be aware that each state has multiple departments and programs that address the various aspects of managing mercury in the home, workplace, and environment, and provide guidance on how to comply with state-specific provisions concerning mercury.

Adapted from:

Background Information on Mercury Sources and Regulations
U.S. EPA

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General

Background Information on Mercury Sources and Regulations
U.S. EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office.
Contact: Alexis Cain, cain.alexis@epa.gov

Mercury Update: Impact on Fish Advisories
U.S. EPA, Office of Water. EPA 823-F-99-016, 1999.
Contact: Jeffrey Bigler, bigler.jeff@epa.gov

Mercury
U.S. EPA Mercury Home Page.

Contains basic information, answers to frequently asked questions about mercury, and links to a variety of fish consumption advisory pages, human exposure and health effects information, and mercury-specific laws and regulations.

Guidance

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act – Section 313: Guidance for Reporting Toxic Chemicals: Mercury and Mercury Compounds Category
U.S. EPA, Office of Environmental Information. EPA 260-B-01-004, 2001.

Mercury: Emergency Spill & Release Facts
U.S. EPA, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response. EPA 540-K-97-004, 1997.

Soil Screening Guidance: A User's Guide
U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
EPA 540-R-96-018, 1996.
Contact: David Cooper, cooper.davide@epa.gov

Regulatory

Draft Guidance for Implementing the Methylmercury Water Quality Criterion
U.S. EPA, Office of Science and Technology.
Report No: EPA 823-B-04-001, 200 pp, 2006

In 2001, EPA published ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) recommendations for methylmercury for the protection of people who eat fish and shellfish. The criterion of 0.3 mg methylmercury/kg fish tissue wet weight marks EPA's first issuance of a water quality criterion expressed as a fish and shellfish tissue value rather than as an ambient water column value. This document provides technical guidance to states and authorized tribes exercising responsibility under section CWA 303(c) on how to use the new fish tissue-based criterion recommendation as they develop their own water quality standards for methylmercury.

Water Quality Criterion for the Protection of Human Health: Methylmercury
U.S. EPA, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water. EPA 823-R-01-001, 2001.
Contact: Denis Borum, borum.denis@epa.gov

Policy

Concurrence Policy for Mercury Removals
U.S. EPA. Office of Emergency and Remedial Response.
EPA 541-F-98-019, OSWER 9360.1-05, 4 pp., 1998.

Draft Report for Mercury Reduction Options
U.S. EPA, 2000.
Contact: Alexis Cain, cain.alexis@epa.gov

Mercury Research Strategy
U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development. EPA 600-R-00-073, 2000.
Contact: Kathryn Mahaffey, mahaffey.kate@epa.gov

State

Fact Sheet, SB 633: California's Mercury Reduction Act of 2001
California Environmental Protection Agency, Dept. of Toxic Substances Control, 2002.
Contact: Public and Business Liaison, 1-800-728-6942

New Jersey Mercury Task Force Report, Volume 1:Executive Summary and Recommendations
State of New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, 2002.
Contact: Leslie McGeorge, 609-292-1623

International

Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Mercury Releases, Pilot Draft
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP): Chemicals, 274 pp, 2005

This toolkit is designed to produce a simple and standardized methodology and accompanying database to enable assembly of mercury inventories. The methodology consists of a 4-step procedure recommended by the United Nations Environment Program for developing consistent and comparable national and regional source inventories of mercury.