Toxic Mercury Lurking in Great Salt Lake - "Sea Water"

There is a growing concern of Mercury in magnesium products coming from the Great Salt Lake. Federal scientists studying the lake have found some of the highest levels of mercury ever measured anywhere. Why? Because "Mercury is a highly toxic element that occurs naturally in the environment but also has been introduced through human activity. Utah's industrial and mining past has exposed the lake to mercury pollution."... "We thought we would find some high levels of methylmercury," said David Naftz, the USGS research hydrologist who is heading the Great Salt Lake project, "but not some of the highest (the USGS) has ever found."

According to water tests done by Kennecott Utah Copper last summer, two years after samples that triggered alarms about mercury throughout Utah. Kennecott's samples taken in the lake's "deep brine layer," about 20 feet below the surface, were as high as 80.5. Krabbenhoft noted that .5 is considered a "level of substantial concern". Preliminary analyses shows that methylmercury levels in the "deep brine layer" are among the highest ever measured by the USGS. The deepest waters of the Great Salt Lake may contain even more toxic mercury than previously known.

Serious concerns have arised about purchasing products coming from the Great Salt Lake. Companies making claims about purity and the absence of mercury should be reviewed.

http://ff.org/centers/csspp/library/co2weekly/20051222_news/20051222_15.html

http://www.deq.utah.gov/Issues/GSL_WQSC/docs/related_fact_sheets/ASLO-Hg-poster-JAN05.pdf -

http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2577720

Additional Information

USA Today's Story - "Researchers Study Mercury in the Great Salt Lake"

Three years ago, in an alarming finding, U.S. Geological Survey tests showed the lake had some of the highest mercury readings ever recorded in a body of water in the United States. The state (of Utah) warned people not to eat certain kinds of ducks because of the mercury.