Mercury and Mercury Compounds

Mercury and Mercury Compounds (EPA TRI Category Code N458) is a chemical tracked by the EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The TRI requires industrial facilities above specified threshold quantities to disclose annual manufacturing, processing, and otherwise-used volumes, along with quantities released to air, water, land, and off-site transfers.

Across the United States, 972 facilities have filed TRI Form R disclosures for Mercury and Mercury Compounds, with a cumulative reported release volume of 16.9M lbs. The chemical is not flagged as a carcinogen in the TRI classification set. It is also listed as a persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) substance, a category subject to lower reporting thresholds and elevated regulatory concern. The largest individual disclosure in the current dataset comes from NEVADA GOLD MINES LLC - CARLIN SOUTH AREA in NV at 3.4M lbs.

TRI volumes are self-reported estimates, not measured stack emissions, and each pound counts equally regardless of chemical toxicity, so total pounds should not be equated with total risk. Inclusion of a chemical or facility in the TRI does not itself establish a health hazard; it documents the public right-to-know record. Consult EPA's IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for health-effect summaries.