The dangers of mercury and its derivatives, especially organomercury compounds are well documented. However, we still manage to pollute the atmosphere and environment by the continual use of coal and petrochemicals as our main sources of energy. The impact of mercury in natural gas has been responsible for at least five experiences of plant failure, which have been traced to corrosion due to mercury attacks on aluminium in the plant fabric. Very little attention is being given to mercury removal strategies and for these to be successful there is an urgent requirement to determine the speciation profile of the products. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency has set up a series of environmental verification trials to test new technologies with a view to characterizing the viability of these techniques and their performance in real-world situations. One trial involves mercury measurements from coal-fired utilities. Reliable measurements must be available before removal systems can be put in place to limit this pollutant.