Hmmm. This sounds a bit like a sales pitch against “dirty coal” in support of the recent EPA Mercury ruling instead of regular geological research. I question this research claim because they only have evidence that there were spikes of Mercury during those events, not that they caused or accelerated the extinctions. The PR states: “they have discovered a new culprit likely involved in the annihilation…” but that’s an assumption on their part. Further, no one has a good handle (though they claim volcanoes set coal beds on fire) on what actually caused the PT extinction event. A number of theories on what caused the PT event abound, and the science is not settled.
From the University of Calgary
Earth’s massive extinction: The story gets worse
New finding on mercury-volcanic link could re-write history on past annihilations
Scientists have uncovered a lot about the Earth’s greatest extinction event that took place 250 million years ago when rapid climate change wiped out nearly all marine species and a majority of those on land. Now, they have discovered a new culprit likely involved in the annihilation: an influx of mercury into the eco-system.
“No one had ever looked to see if mercury was a potential culprit. This was a time of the greatest volcanic activity in Earth’s history and we know today that the largest source of mercury comes from volcanic eruptions,” says Dr. Steve Grasby, co-author of a paper published this month in the journal Geology. “We estimate that the mercury released then could have been up to 30 times greater than today’s volcanic activity, making the event truly catastrophic.”
Grasby is a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada and an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Benoit Beauchamp, professor of geology at the University of Calgary, says this study is significant because it’s the first time mercury has been linked to the cause of the massive extinction that took place during the end of the Permian.
“Geologists, including myself should be taking notes and taking another look at the other five big extinction events,” says Beauchamp, also a co-author.
During the late Permian, the natural buffering system in the ocean became overloaded with mercury contributing to the loss of 95 per cent of life in the sea.
“Typically, algae acts like a scavenger and buries the mercury in the sediment, mitigating the effect in the oceans,” says lead-author Dr. Hamed Sanei, research scientist at Natural Resources Canada and adjunct professor at the University of Calgary. “But in this case, the load was just so huge that it could not stop the damage.”
About 250 million years ago, a time long before dinosaurs ruled and when all land formed one big continent, the majority of life in the ocean and on land was wiped out. The generally accepted idea is that volcanic eruptions burned though coal beds, releasing CO2 and other deadly toxins. Direct proof of this theory was outlined in a paper that was published by these same authors last January in Nature Geoscience.
The mercury deposition rates could have been significantly higher in the late Permian when compared with today’s human-caused emissions. In some cases, levels of mercury in the late Permian ocean was similar to what is found near highly contaminated ponds near smelters, where the aquatic system is severely damaged, say researchers.
“We are adding to the levels through industrial emissions. This is a warning for us here on Earth today,” adds Beauchamp. Canada has taken a lead role in reducing emissions internationally. In North America, at least, there has been a steady decline through regulations controlling mercury.
No matter what happens, this study shows life’s tenacity. “The story is one of recovery as well. After the system was overloaded and most of life was destroyed, the oceans were still able to self clean and we were able to move on to the next phase of life,” says Sanei.
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George E. Smith; says:
“Well I figured someone would get a bang out of that fulminate of mercury. But I do still chomp on those Mercurial teeth every mealtime, and if my saliva won’t dissolve the stuff, nothing will..”
Your saliva won’t dissolve the stuff. This is what happens: dental amalgam accumulates corrosion products relatively quickly. These corrosion products prevent an amalgam filling from releasing mercury vapor. But then when you eat, chewing mechanically removes the corrosion products and exposes the amalgam, causing the fillings to leak mercury vapor again. You inhale the vapor and it enters the bloodstream. (Swallowing the corrosion products is probably not significant.) This is the biggest source of mercury exposure for most people, or was (since it’s less used now and I have no recent info).
It’s clearly not making most people sick, but it could cause subclinical neurological impairment in a largish minority. The potential cost of that in diminished productivity is astronomical. That’s the problem with exposing an entire population to this kind of thing.
And the “cheapo plastic stuff” is probably a composite containing about 80% ceramic particles.
Maybe the climate change caused them all to use long life light bulbs, and the mercury escaped!
George E. Smith; says:
January 5, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Does anybody out there know, or know of, anybody who ever died from Mercury poisoning. (…) Never heard of anybody even getting sick.
1. Elemental mercury (liquid or mercury vapor)
a. Contact with the skin: Mercury is not known to directly irritate the skin. However, an allergic skin reaction may develop after prolonged contact with mercury.
b. If mercury is swallowed less than a thousandth (according to some sources: 0.01%) is absorbed by the body and most of it is eliminated, mainly through the urine and faeces. Still, swallowing a high concentration of mercury on the short term can lead to severe harmful and even life-threatening effects. (http://copublications.greenfacts.org/en/mercury-cfl/l-2/2-release-health-effects.htm#0 )
c. When inhaled: Mercury vapor is very dangerous because it is absorbed quite easy by the lungs. According to Wikipedia, approximately 80% of inhaled mercury vapor is absorbed via the respiratory tract where it enters the circulatory system and is distributed throughout the body. Chronic exposure by inhalation, even at low concentrations in the range 0.7-42 µg/m3, has been shown in case control studies to cause effects such as tremors, impaired cognitive skills, and sleep disturbance in workers.
2. In the aquatic environment, elemental mercury is bioconverted into methyl mercury. Ingested methylmercury in the human body is readily and completely absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, almost completely absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed to all tissues within about 4 days. Methylmercury is accumulated in the liver and kidney. (…)
Pregnant and child-bearing women are a sensitive group because methylmercury as methylmercury-cysteine conjugate can pass not only the blood-brain barrier but also the placenta and causes the adverse effects tot the fetus. (Technical Guideline on Environmentally Sound Management of Mercury Waste. 24 July 2007, p. 4-5)
So, mercury has to be avoided when possible: by reducing emission in power plants, by ignoring the mercury containing CFLs and substituting them by halogen type or incandescent bulbs.
“The generally accepted idea is that volcanic eruptions burned though coal beds, releasing CO2 and other deadly toxins.”
Releasing CO2 and other deadly toxins???
So CO2 is a “deadly toxin”? Those who claim this, do they have a Phd degree? In that case, did they issue Phd’s to small children?