Mercury Emission from Crematories in Japan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 3665–3671, 2010 www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/3665/2010/ Atmospheric © Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed under Chemistry the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. and Physics Mercury emission from crematories in Japan M. Takaoka1, K. Oshita1, N. Takeda2, and S. Morisawa1 1Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8540, Japan 2Eco-technology Research Center, Ristumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan Received: 30 September 2009 – Published in Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.: 16 December 2009 Revised: 8 April 2010 – Accepted: 8 April 2010 – Published: 20 April 2010 Abstract. Anthropogenic sources of mercury emissions have ald et al., 1998). Some of the inorganic mercury in water a significant impact on global pollution. Therefore, find- is converted into organic mercury, which can be very toxic ing uncharacterised sources and assessing the emissions from and is subject to biological accumulation. Consequently, the these sources are important. However, limited data are avail- emission of mercury is of great concern. The United Na- able worldwide on mercury emissions from crematories. In tions Environment Programme (UNEP) is conducting studies Japan, 99.9% of dead bodies are cremated, which is the high- with the goal of a worldwide reduction in mercury (UNEP est percentage in the world, and more than 1600 crematories Chemicals, 2002). These programmes require estimates of are in operation. We thus focused on emissions from crema- the national emissions of mercury from major sources in tories in Japan. The number of targeted facilities was seven, each country.
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