A concerning level of mercury contamination has been detected in the hair samples of women living in Puttalam, according to findings released in a recent environmental study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been reported that the affected women were not directly exposed to mercury through occupational activities. Instead, environmental pollution caused by low-quality coal usage has been identified as a possible contributing factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings were presented by the Centre for Environmental Justice. Its Chairman and Senior Advisor, Hemantha Withanage, stated that mercury released from burning low-quality coal may accumulate in the environment and marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has further been explained that mercury can enter the human body through the food chain, particularly via contaminated seafood consumed by coastal communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hair samples collected from 28 women aged between 18 and 44 years<\/strong> showed mercury levels exceeding 1 ppm<\/strong>, which is the safety reference level established by the National Research Council in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In several cases, mercury concentrations were recorded as high as 15.584 ppm<\/strong>, which has been described as a serious public health concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Residents living in surrounding coastal regions such as Norochcholai, Paniyadi, Narakkalliya, and nearby lagoon areas have been warned that exposure to mercury toxicity may already have occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Concerns were also raised that insufficient transparency exists regarding mercury content in imported coal supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Environmental experts have cautioned that the situation could potentially develop into a large-scale public health emergency similar to the historic Minamata disease crisis recorded in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, medical specialist Chamal Sanjeewa stated that mercury accumulation in coastal water bodies could increase contamination levels in fish populations consumed by local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has also been reported that repeated requests submitted to the Central Environmental Authority for a detailed investigation have not yet received an official response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to data released by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, emissions from the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant remain within legally permitted limits but have increased noticeably in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In particular, February 2026 data showed higher emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and sulphur dioxide compared with earlier measurements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although these emissions remain within regulatory thresholds, questions have been raised regarding coal quality and potential long-term environmental and health risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A concerning level of mercury contamination has been detected in the hair samples of women living in Puttalam, according to findings released in a recent environmental study. It has been reported that the affected women were not directly exposed to mercury through occupational activities. Instead, environmental pollution caused by low-quality coal usage has been identified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[534,535,537,536,533],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-environmental-health-sri-lanka","tag-mercury-contamination-news","tag-norochcholai-power-plant","tag-puttalam-mercury-study","tag-sri-lanka-coal-pollution"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions\/481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisstamils.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Coastal Communities May Already Be Affected<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Experts Warn of Possible Long-Term Health Crisis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pollution Levels Near Norochcholai Power Plant Increasing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n