• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Thursday, January 21, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Quantifying the hidden environmental cost of hydroelectric dams

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
November 9, 2016
in Science News
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: American Chemical Society

Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy, and the facilities that produce it give off less greenhouse gases than other power plants. But damming bodies of water can lead to the production and release of methylmercury from the soil. This toxic compound can move up the food chain and potentially harm human health. In the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers quantify the possible increases in methylmercury exposures for indigenous communities living near planned facilities.

Bacteria can convert mercury, which occurs naturally in the soil, to methylmercury when the land is flooded, such as when dams are built for hydroelectric power generation. Unlike mercury, however, methylmercury moves into the food chain. People exposed to the chemical through their diet face increased cardiovascular risks, and children with high prenatal exposure can develop attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, neurological abnormalities and other symptoms. Because a new hydroelectric facility is scheduled to fill a reservoir on the Churchill River at Muskrat Falls in Labrador, Canada, any day now, Ryan S. D. Calder and colleagues wanted to evaluate its potential impact on nearby communities.

The researchers combined direct measurements and modeling of future environmental concentrations with data collected from local residents and from other flooded regions. Modeling projections indicate that the flooding at Muskrat Falls likely will increase methylmercury 10-fold in the dammed river and 2.6-fold in surface waters downstream. Methylmercury concentrations in locally caught fish, birds and seals — which nearby Inuit populations use as a source of food — likely will increase up to 10-fold. In these communities, the researchers concluded, more than half the women of childbearing age and young children will be exposed to enough methylmercury to harm health. In addition, the researchers extrapolated the data to Canada's other planned hydroelectric facilities, which are all within about 60 miles of indigenous communities. The model forecast even higher methylmercury concentrations for 11 of these other hydropower sites.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Canada's Northern Contaminants Program, ArcticNet Inc., Tides Canada's Oak Arctic Marine Fund Program, the Nunatsiavut Government and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

The paper will be freely available on Nov. 9 at this link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.6b04447

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With nearly 157,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected]

Follow us: Twitter Facebook

Media Contact

Michael Bernstein
[email protected]
202-872-6042
@ACSpressroom

http://www.acs.org

Share20Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

IMAGE

Bringing atoms to a standstill: NIST miniaturizes laser cooling

January 21, 2021
IMAGE

Giant sand worm discovery proves truth is stranger than fiction

January 21, 2021

Mitochondrial mutation increases the risk of diabetes in Japanese men

January 21, 2021

New study: nine out of ten US infants experience gut microbiome deficiency

January 21, 2021
Next Post

Healthy living equals better brain function

Researchers discover new regulator in glucose metabolism

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • New findings help explain how COVID-19 overpowers the immune system

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencescancerTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceGeneticsEcology/EnvironmentBiologyMedicine/HealthClimate ChangePublic HealthMaterialsInfectious/Emerging DiseasesCell Biology

Recent Posts

  • Bringing atoms to a standstill: NIST miniaturizes laser cooling
  • Giant sand worm discovery proves truth is stranger than fiction
  • Mitochondrial mutation increases the risk of diabetes in Japanese men
  • New study: nine out of ten US infants experience gut microbiome deficiency
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In