March 12, 2008
House Introduces mercury phase-out bill!
BY: smahan
This morning, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced a bill to phase out the use of mercury in chlorine production by 2012 (H.R. 5580).
It’s a little known fact that mercury can be used in the process to make chlorine (check out this amazing graphic to get a better understanding of how it’s used – remember Hg stands for mercury in chemist-land). Thanks to campaigning by Oceana, there are only four chlorine factories remaining in the United States that still rely on mercury-cell technology; meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of the chlorine produced in the US is done so using mercury-free technology. Even though there are only a few mercury-dependent chlorine factories left, the remaining four plants collectively emitted over a ton of mercury into the air in 2006.
Representative Schakowsky’s bill, if passed, would bring the United States in line with other countries phasing out mercury-based chlorine production: India should have all its chlorine plants converted to mercury-free processes by 2012 and Japan outright banned the mercury process in the 1980s.
Needless to say, we’re pretty stoked.
MOST RECENT
September 3, 2025
Air Raid Panic to Informed Skies and Seas: The National Weather Service in a Nutshell
August 29, 2025
August 22, 2025
Corals, Community, and Celebration: Oceana Goes to Salmonfest!