Mercury levels in SA water resources probed

Abstract

Pollution S AMA is a partnership programme with representatives from government, academia, industry, and parastatal and nongovernmental organisations. “We suspect that South Africa’s mercury emissions are not as high as has been suggested because the estimated emissions were based on volumes of coal combustion and gold production, yet the gold industry has largely phased out the use of mercury,” says Dr Joy Leaner of the CSIR’s Natural Resources and the Environment Group. Dr Leaner serves as coordinator of the SAMA Programme, and is also the project leader for a recently initiated research project – funded by the Water Research Commission (WRC) – to investigate mercury levels in South African water resources. Mercury is particularly dangerous once it gets into water, because under certain conditions it is converted into methylmercury – a more toxic form. It is readily taken up by phytoplankton and then accumulates up the food chain, with the result that people eating contaminated fish on a regular basis soon experience the symptoms of mercury poisoning.

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