A US' researcher has discovered that a new release of mercury into the environment would transform more quickly into a highly toxic methyl-mercury, than "old" mercury that has been in the environment for longer periods of time.

According to the researcher, most new mercury introduced into the environment comes from air deposition and is in its elemental form. Once in the environment, the elemental mercury transforms into methyl-mercury, which is one of the most toxic neurotoxins. The transformation of mercury occurs when elemental mercury reacts with sulphur and carbon at the interface of sediment and water.

The European Commission' Health and Consumer Protection Directorate has announced recently that more than four percent of the fruits, vegetables and cereals tested by European Union (EU) countries in 1999 had pesticide residues higher than legal maximum residue levels.

In 1999, EU countries were required to test cauliflower, peppers, wheat grains and melons for the presence of 20 different pesticides. Pesticide residues exceeding the legal maximum residue levels were detected in peppers and pears most frequently.

Australia has launched the world's first trading system for "Green Electricity Market" (GEM) in July 2001.

The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 sets a target of an additional 9,500 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of renewable energy per year by 2010, using 1997 as the base year. Interim targets have also been set for each year up until 2010 to ensure consistent progress towards achieving the 9,500 GWh target and to ensure that investment is spread throughout the years rather than confined to the final years of the scheme.

Energy generators accredited under the act create a "Renewable Energy Certificates" (RECs) for each megawatt-hour of renewable electricity they deliver to wholesalers. RECs can only be created for generation in excess of the base year generation. Wholesale purchasers of electricity must acquire sufficient RECs through the GEM trading system to meet their share of the mandatory renewable energy targets set for the year.

Scientists from the University of Southern Illinois, USA, have announced recently that they have successfully isolated two bacterial strains that could digest benzene in the absence of oxygen. The two bacterial strains have the ability to oxidise benzene to harmless carbon dioxide.

Benzene, which is a major polluter of groundwater and a known carcinogen, is used as a solvent in many chemical-manufacturing processes. It is also found in vehicle exhaust fumes.

Tyson has announced that it has partnered with an Australia-based company Renewable Energy, to build and operate a US$12 million gasification facility for treatment of chicken waste. The proposed chicken waste treatment plant is capable consuming approximately 80-85,000 tons of chicken litter a year.

The gasification plant would take chicken litter and wastewater treatment sludge from the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant and use the chicken wastes to generate steam that would then be used by Tyson's protein conversion plant. Chicken litter consists of a mixture of wood chips and/or straw and poultry droppings, which is considered an excellent fuel as it contains nearly half the calorific value of coal.

A study carried out by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that bottled water could be less healthy than the water that flowed from the tap. While there are strict laws that govern municipal water quality, many private bottled water-manufacturing plants are not regulated and hence the quality of bottled water could not be assured.

Furthermore, about 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to manufacture single-use water bottles every year that eventually becomes solid waste that would have to be properly disposed of. Transportation and distribution of the bottled water also add the release of greenhouse gases into the environment.

The European Commission said it is taking legal action against Italy, Germany and the UK for not reporting progress in limiting the amount of mercury in batteries to comply with EU environmental legislation.

Under the rules, member states in EU were required to ban batteries with more than 0.0005% of mercury by weight by 1 Jan 2000, with only button cells allowed to contain up to 2% mercury.