There is no simple solution to the problem of mercury waste. The best way is to stop using mercury and mercury-containing products and recycle the mercury in use, instead of letting mercury continue to circulate in the market. In the United States, 65,438+03 states have passed legislation prohibiting the use of mercury-containing thermometers, and the medical system has turned to buying safer substitutes. Some European countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, have banned the use of mercury-containing thermometers, blood pressure meters and many other mercury-containing devices. In 2007, the European Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the use of mercury-containing thermometers in EU countries.
Prevention and control of mercury pollution in soil
Because of the diversity of mercury forms in soil, it is more difficult to prevent and control mercury pollution in soil. Of course, for any pollution, eliminating pollution sources is the most fundamental and effective way to prevent pollution, but it is not feasible in actual operation and can only be minimized. For the soil polluted by mercury, we should actively take effective measures to prevent it. To sum up, we can divide the prevention and control measures of soil mercury pollution into the following aspects: reducing the amount of mercury artificially released into the atmosphere. Atmospheric mercury is an important source of soil. Every year, nearly 500 tons of mercury is discharged into the atmospheric circulation by human activities, which may eventually settle into the global terrestrial ecosystem and aquatic ecosystem, making a great contribution to soil mercury pollution. Therefore, atmospheric mercury deposition is one of the pollution sources of soil mercury, and discharging mercury into the atmosphere is indirectly discharging mercury into the soil. Therefore, we should pay attention to how to reduce mercury emissions into the atmosphere. To improve aquaculture technology, firstly, apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides scientifically, especially in the process of sewage irrigation and sludge application, reduce the direct input of mercury as much as possible, actively and prudently promote sewage irrigation, and strictly monitor and control the sewage from irrigated farmland. Bioremediation of earthworms can reduce the mercury content in groundwater sludge from 0.97mg/kg to 0.29mg/kg, and its purification ability will gradually increase with the reproduction of earthworms. Although earthworm or earthworm dung will eventually become soil, this process greatly promotes the transformation of mercury in soil. Some plants, such as Betula platyphylla and Mangroves, have a strong ability to absorb and store mercury in soil. Planting ramie in mercury-polluted rice fields can make the mercury purification rate in soil higher. Using bioremediation technology to prevent soil mercury pollution can not only control the environment, but also beautify the environment. It is one of the most promising remediation methods of heavy metal contaminated soil at present.