![]() ![]() Like hundreds of paper mills in Sweden, and many more worldwide, the wastewater it released created what are known as “fiber banks” - nutrient-rich accumulations of industrial and organic waste from the mill, mixed up with the river’s natural sediment.įor ten years until its closure in 1962, the Karlshäll mill released what may have been 100 kilograms of mercury into the Lule River. ![]() This was the case for the Karlshäll paper mill, near Luleå, Sweden. Paper mills that used mercury to prevent the growth of mold in wood pulp, for example, simply released wastewater containing mercury into bodies of water. No special measures were taken when it was disposed of. This is bad news for animals, because mercury readily reaches the brain and can eventually cause severe brain damage.īefore it was known just how damaging mercury is to the environment and to animals, its was for centuries was used in a wide range of medical and scientific items and industrial processes. Indeed, it does not break down at all, leaving it to make its way up the food chain, passing from bacteria, to fish, and then on to larger animals, including humans. Quicksilver - properly known as mercury - does not go anywhere fast once it reaches the environment. Suction dredging of 30,000 cubic metres of sediment containing mercury is expected to be completed this autumn (Eva Sundgren / Luleå Kommun)
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