Rampal plant mercury to affect Sundarbans aquatic, forest ecosystems: Study

Mercury to be emitted from the proposed coal-fired Rampal power plant will disturb the local ecosystem and expose humans and wildlife to the neurotoxin, a new study has suggested.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 17 June 2017, 05:56 PM
Updated : 17 June 2017, 05:57 PM

National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans (NCPS) came up with the new research report on the effects of the power plant on the Sundarbans mangrove at a press conference on Saturday.

Professor Charles T Driscoll from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, the US, made the report titled, 'Emissions, Atmospheric Deposition and Ecological Effects of Mercury, including Emissions from the Rampal, Bangladesh and Effects on the Sundarbans Forest Biogeographic Zone'.

Prof Driscoll concluded after analysing one-year data on the area in Bagerhat district that the proposed power plant poses a 'high risk' of mercury contamination for the aquatic and forest ecosystems.

The ecosystems include the Sundarbans World Heritage site adjacent to the Passur River and parts of the Bay of Bengal, he said.

The study suggests that during the operation of the power plant, mercury deposition would increase by approximately 50 percent over the currently estimated deposition near the proposed facility, the professor said in the report.

"Because of an abundance of forests, wetlands and aquatic resources, Bangladesh is highly sensitive to mercury deposition," he said.

He also said the concern over mercury deposit was particularly heightened for the Sundarbans Forest Biogeographic Zone, which is near the proposed facility and is projected to receive considerable mercury deposition from the proposed facility.

As a result, the plant would increase health risk to people and wildlife, including endangered birds, cetaceans, and reptiles, that will consume fish from the Sundarbans and Bay of Bengal, the report said.  

It said coal combustion is a major source of global mercury emissions to the atmosphere, and after release to the atmosphere, mercury can be deposited locally, regionally and globally to the Earth’s surface. 

At the surface of the earth, ionic mercury can be microbially converted to the bio-available form, methylmercury. 

Methylmercury is readily transferred up to the aquatic and terrestrial food chains to elevated concentrations in top trophic level organisms, the report said.

Methylmercury accumulates easily in the muscle tissue of fish and their prey, and human exposure to the toxin largely occurs through consumption of contaminated fish, according to the report.

The report said while most mercury-related health studies focus on changes in intelligence quotient, emerging research suggests that a spectrum of health effects can occur as a result of methylmercury exposure, including cardiovascular disease in men.

The greatest concern related to human methylmercury exposure is on sensitive people like women of childbearing age and children, Prof Driscoll said in the report.

He said the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Food and Drug Administration issued a joint federal advisory in 2004 over mercury in fish for women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, and children.

Dhaka University geology department Professor Badrul Imam briefed the media about the findings of the study.

NCPS Convenor Sultana Kamal, Member Secretary Abdul Matin, Doctors for Health and Environment President Nazmun Nahar, and Dhaka University economics department Professor MM Akash were also present.

The committee had earlier come up with reports on effects of the proposed coal-fired plant on human health and ecosystems.

The government and the plant authorities, however, denied the claims, saying the 1320 megawatt plant, being set up jointly with India, will not impact the Sundarbans or the environment in the region.‎