Mercury has an uncanny ability to bind to precious metals, and for millennia, people have used it to mine gold
and silver. Small-scale, or "artisanal," mining — which makes use of
mercury in this way — has recently become the leading source of mercury
pollution, several recent studies show.
Mining releases mercury into the air when it is burned off to isolate
gold from a chunk of rock or slurry; it also seeps into the soil and
rivers from water used in the process and runoff from rainwater,
contaminated by materials left behind from mining operations.
http://www.livescience.com/39982-surprising-mercury-pollution-sources.html
No comments:
Post a Comment