Who exactly to they think they're fooling?
The EPA declared that "the fate of all the mercury consumed at mercury-cell chlor-alkali plants remains somewhat of an enigma."
In the U.S., consumption of corn sweeteners is ~ 80 lbs per person.
Roughly 75% of that is high fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup is created in a corn wet-milling process.
Chemicals for this process are made at chlor-alkali plants.
Older chlor-alkali plants utilize a "mercury cell" process.
The process electrolyzes saltwater and produces sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).
The same plants also creates sodium hydroxide (NaOH), often called lye or caustic soda.
The process takes place in an electrolytic cell, where liquid mercury (Hg) acts as a cathode.
Hg attracts sodium (Na) cations to form an amalgam.
NaOCl gas collects at a graphite anode.
The amalgam is added to water where Na reacts to form NaOH and H.
Hg gets left behind and reused.
Mercury is highly volatile and contamination occurs throughout the process.
Both the product and the wastewater stream end up containing some mercury.
This report documents 65 tons of mercury lost during one year of production at nine chlor-alkali plants in the U.S.
Similarly 96 tons of mercury were lost at plants in Europe.
The EPA declared that "the fate of all the mercury consumed at mercury-cell chlor-alkali plants remains somewhat of an enigma."