PROGRAMS

Mercury is a naturally occurring element widely found throughout the environment. Industries, such as power generation from coal-fired power plants, incineration of waste, and metal processing, emit mercury to the atmosphere where it later deposits through rainwater and in gases and particles at local, regional and global scales. Like many forms of air pollution, mercury transcends national borders. Increasing industrialization has made Asia the main source region of mercury emissions to the air, with East and Southeast Asia accounting for about 40% of the global total, and South Asia for an additional 8%. Once mercury deposits to the landscape, natural processes convert it to methylmercury—a toxic form of mercury that is readily magnified to high concentrations in food webs. Globally, methylmercury concentrations in some fish and wildlife now routinely exceed dietary thresholds that can harm people and wildlife.

To manage the mercury pollution mentioned above, EPAT in partnership with the U.S. EPA, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, and Taiwan’s National Central University launched the Asia Pacific Mercury Monitoring Network (APMMN) in 2012.