Mercury Rising

This painting was created with respect to a study my mother, Anna Tilman, has been doing on Mercury. It is a fragmented collagesque piece that indicates several issues regarding Mercury and the Environment. I have scanned newspaper images of coal plants and incinerators as well as information from Ontario Ministry of the Environment - "Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish 2001-2002". The data for the graph (that I am particularly pleased with) is provided from the Environmental Protection Agency. Foremost this graph indicates the high levels of Mercury in common fresh-water fish. It is of great concern that mercury levels in fish have been rising dramatically.

"Mercury pollution and the consequent contamination of fish have significant implications for the human and wildlife food chain worldwide....Coal-fired plants are a major and growing contributor to the levels of mercury emissions in Canada. In 1999 alone, these facilities emitted approximately 2500 kilograms, representing 39% of the national atmospheric emissions for that year from major sources....Mercury damages the liver, kidneys, most particularly, the central nervous systems of animals with the most devastating effects in the embryos and the young." (Anna Tilman, p.4)