INDEX - ENVIRONMENT
www.islandbreath.org

SUBJECT: MERCURY POISIONING

SOURCE: LISETTE LANGOIS langloisl001@hawaii.rr.com

Stop mecury pollution now!

21 July 2005 - 8:00am

A mercury polluting power plant in Long Beach, California

Toxic mercury pollution is so pervasive that many Americans cannot safely eat fish caught in local waters. Mercury causes learning disabilities, developmental delays, and other serious problems. But rather than crack down on the largest U.S. source of mercury pollution - power plants - the Bush administration recently gave polluters a pass, delaying reductions in mercury pollution from power plants for years to come.

Senators Patrick Leahy (VT) and Susan Collins (ME) have introduced a bipartisan joint resolution that would overturn the Bush administration's mercury plan and send the administration back to the drawing board to write a rule that complies with the law and protects public health.

Please take a moment to urge your senators to protect Americans from mercury pollution by voting for the Leahy-Collins resolution. Then help spread the word by forwarding this email to three mothers concerned abouut the impact of mercury pollution on their children's development.

To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=1126&id4=ES

Background
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the brain, heart, and immune system. Children and developing fetuses are especially at risk. Even low-level exposure can cause learning disabilities, developmental delays, and other problems, and EPA scientists estimate that one in six women has enough mercury in her body to put her child at risk should she become pregnant.

Notwithstanding these risks, the Bush administration recently finalized two rules that do too little, too late to reduce mercury pollution from power plants, the largest manmade source of mercury emissions in the U.S. The first rule (the "delisting rule") takes power plants off the list of sources subject to strict controls for their emissions of mercury and other toxic air pollutants, paving the way for the second rule, an industry-favored "cap-and-trade" plan that delays even modest mercury reductions until 2018 and lets power plants buy and trade the right to pollute. Such a trading scheme increases the risk of mercury "hot spots" around plants that choose to buy mercury credits rather than reduce their pollution.

In issuing these rules, the Bush administration ignored the law, which requires power plants to reduce their mercury emissions by the maximum achievable extent, about 90% by 2008. The administration also ignored the science on mercury, widespread public opposition, and highly critical reports by three separate government bodies, including EPA's own children's health committee, foisting what amounts to a do-nothing approach on the public for years to come even though proven, cost-effective control technology is already available. And it did so even though recent studies by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the EPA's own water office have all shown tremendous benefits from reducing mercury pollution from power plants.

To date, 15 states and a variety of other groups, including environmental and public health advocates, Indian tribes, and the City of Baltimore, have challenged the administration's mercury rules in court or petitioned the EPA for reconsideration of the delisting rule. Then, on June 29, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bipartisan resolution to disapprove the delisting rule. If enacted, this resolution would nullify the rule, sending EPA back to the drawing board to craft a rule that complies with the law and protects public health.

Please take a moment to urge your senators to protect Americans from mercury pollution by voting for the Leahy-Collins resolution. Then help spread the word by forwarding this email to three mothers concerned abouut the impact of mercury pollution on their children's development.

To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=1126&id4=ES

Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
U.S. PIRG Executive Director
GeneK@uspirg.org
http://www.USPIRG.org


Mercury Pollution, Autism Link Found - U.S. Study
by Jim Forsyth published by Reuters on 16 March 2005

Mercury released primarily from coal-fired power plants may be contributing to an increase in the number of cases of autism, a Texas researcher said on Wednesday.

A study to be published on Thursday in the journal "Health and Place" found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication and social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as mercury emissions rose, said Claudia Miller , a family and community medicine professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

"The main finding is that for every thousand pounds of environmentally released mercury, we saw a 17 percent increase in autism rates," she said in an interview.
About 48 tons of mercury are released into the air annually in the United States from hundreds of coal-burning plants.

The study looked at Texas county-by-county levels of mercury emissions recorded by the government and compared them to the rates of autism and special education services in 1,200 Texas school districts, Miller said.

"The study shows that there may be a very important connection between environmental exposure to mercury and the development of autism," she said in an interview.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has said it does not know how many cases of autism there are in the country or whether the number has increased, but that the issue is under study.

Some experts estimate there are 1.5 million people in the United States with autism, most of them children, and say the number of cases has risen rapidly in recent years.

"Autism has increased dramatically over the last decade or so and the reasons for that have really stumped the medical community," Miller said.

"Now we think that due to the rising exposures in pollutants like mercury, they may be at the root of some of these cases," she said.

The Bush administration this week ordered power plants to cut mercury pollution by 50 percent within 15 years, but environmentalists said the action fell short of what was needed. They have called for a 90 percent cut in mercury emissions.

"This research has implications for toxic substance regulation and prevention policies," said Raymond Palmer, an autism expert at the San Antonio school who helped in the study.

"Policies regarding toxic release of mercury and the incidence of developmental disorders should be investigated," he said.



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