Mercury Contaminated Sites

In India, there are studies indicating the presence of mercury in various conditions like soil, water and sediments. However, at present, no limit has been prescribed globally or nationally to designate any site as mercury contaminated sites. Most of the recent studies in India where mercury has been reported has been linked to the thermal power plants where as no recent studies have reported the mercury presence in Chlor-Alkali plants. In this context, perhaps, there are requirements to generate more data from in and around Chlor –Alkali plants which are historically the biggest consumer of mercury in past. Further, there is an urgent need for Govt. of India to develop a policy to remediate the mercury-contaminated sites.