Mercury lingers on

The toxic heavy metal, mercury, can last in the environment and continue to cause environmental problems for much longer than previously thought, according to a study of riverbank and floodplain soils contaminated in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The soil was contaminated by waste released by a textile manufacturing plant more than half a century ago and remains the major source of mercury poisoning in fish in several Shenandoah Valley rivers.

In a report, highlighting this ongoing environmental problem, Jack Eggleston of the US Geological Survey (USGS) explains that a fifth of a tonne of mercury enters the South River every year from the soil. But, to meet safety standards in fish for human consumption, a reduction of 99 per cent is needed.