Environmental fate assessment of, methylmercury from coal-fired power plants in Oklahoma

Abstract

The basic objective of this research is to determine the environmental fate of methylmercury by assuming all mercury emitted from power plants as methylmercury and by modeling the properties and the fate in a multimedia environment using various computer models such EPIsuite model, EQC and ChemCAN model. Findings and Conclusions: Application of the EQC Model yielded estimates of methylmercury environmental fate. Conclusions from this model include: *Distribution characteristics of the chemicals in the environment depend not only on the chemical properties but also on the media of discharge. *The methylmercury concentration prediction in Oklahoma river is found to be far beyond the safe level, however these maybe due to various limiting factors incorporated by the ChemCAN model Methylmercury is most likely to partition into the atmosphere, while minimal concentration in the atmosphere or soil is expected for the conditions tested.