The concentration of mercury in the rainwater of the US has been so dangerous

Many states have mercury levels in the rain that exceed the danger for humans.

A research team has just published results on Science of the Total Environment, showing that since 1997 the level of mercury in the rain is increasing in some areas of the United States, especially the western and central parts of the this country.

In the eastern states, the amount of mercury in the rainwater has decreased because coal-fired power plants have been installed with chimney filtration systems to retain hazardous materials before emissions are released into the environment. (This is a large source of mercury in the air.) The same process is happening in many states in the United States, but the problem is why there are some places where the amount of mercury in the rain does not decrease?

High exposure to mercury can cause health problems.

Peter Weiss-Penzias, author of the study, said: "The amount of mercury released into the atmosphere in the United States and Canada was less than 20 years ago. This is the result of implementing regulators' regulations and efforts. industries as well as the switch to natural gas use are cheaper, although other factors such as emissions of regions around the world are increasing the amount of mercury in the rain in many areas of North America".

"Other areas of the world" in this case are Asia, where there is no properly invested environmental control system for power plants according to the rules of North America and Europe. Countries like China rely on coal to power their population and growing economy, resulting in very serious air pollution and the cost to fix this problem is very expensive.

Excessive exposure to mercury can cause many health problems including nerve, liver or cardiovascular disease.