Mercury

Ashley Ceravone
Environmental Leaders
06/21/16

Dating back to the ancient Mayan civilizations, mercury was used for various reasons.
But in todays society, we often use it for industrial purposes.   The catch: mercury poses serious health risks to not only the environment, but all life on Earth, from the fish in the sea- to your own family.
There was an incident in 1956 in Minamata, Japan which took the insect lives of civilians in the area. The factories in the local area were improperly disposing of mercury into the bay surrounding them, causing a chain reaction in the food chain.  The contaminated water infected the fish, and therefore infected the citizens with the deadly toxin.
The worst part about this mass contamination is that factories all over the world still continue to improperly dispose of mercury, even though they know just how hazardous this element is.
We cannot let history repeat itself; we need to be the generation that creates a change.  Ultimately, illuminating the use of mercury emissions and disposals is the goal, but in order to think big, we must start by acting small.  That is our mission, our goal.