Silver Emissions and their Environmental Impacts: A Multilevel Assessment

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• 作者：Matthew J. Eckelman ; T. E. Graedel
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2007
• 出版时间：September 1, 2007
• 年：2007
• 卷：41
• 期：17
• 页码：6283 - 6289
• 全文大小：227K
• 年卷期：v.41,no.17(September 1, 2007)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

A detailed accounting of environmental releases of silveris presented for the year 1997, based on data from YaleUniversity's Stocks and Flows (STAF) project and othersources. The analysis is carried out for 64 countries, eightregions, and the world. From the chemical compositionand receiving media of these different releases, each emissioncategory is assigned an environmental impact score inaccordance with the Indiana Relative Chemical Hazard(IRCH) ranking system. Flows are scaled by impact and landarea to form an overall semiquantitative assessment ofthe environmental impact of silver. Of the 64 countries, theUnited States has the highest gross emissions for nearlyall flows to the environment. On a regional basis, Asia is thelargest emitter of silver directly to land and water. Inmajor silver-producing countries, tailings tend to have thehighest environmental impact of any emissions category;in nonproducing countries, it is dissipation to land (HongKong having the highest impact in this category). Globally,more than 13 Gg of silver are emitted annually to theenvironment, with that in tailings and landfills making upalmost three-fourths of the total. The utility of this methodfor evaluating the environmental impact of other metalsis explored.