Methylmercury in the United States: Assessing the Threat of Not Regulating Mercury Emissions

Abstract

Mercury pollution has recently become a significant topic of conversation within the United States following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). MATS sought to regulate the pollution released from oil and coal-fired power plants, the top producers of mercury air pollution in the United States. Successful implementation of MATS would have effectively reduced the volume of elemental mercury released into the atmosphere, thereby, reducing the American populous’ exposure to the element’s more toxic form, methylmercury. This review assesses the current status of mercury emissions and the resulting exposure of the public to both elemental and methylmercury within the United States.