Mercury -- with Lead, Another Destroyer of the Brains of Our Children

Coal-fired Power Plants a Principle Source of this Scourge

The following mercury pollution letter was presented to the National Governor’s Association on 2-23-99 in Washington, DC. This letter asked for the governors’ leadership on addressing the public health and the environmental impacts of mercury pollution.

Transcribed from a commentary by Brian Stubblefield on the Environmental News radio broadcast over WETS on March 7, 1999.

Dear Governors:

For over 20 years the nation has been struggling to address the consequences of toxic metals exposure in countless communities. Lead contamination in our communities has required millions of dollars in clean-up, health surveillance and public education. Our delay in responding aggressively to lead pollution decades ago meant millions of children suffer the debilitating effects of lead exposure and poisoning [Bold added by Editor]. We hope we can learn from this unfortunate public health crisis and can prevent repeating the same mistakes when it comes to dealing with another toxic heavy metal, mercury.

Mercury is a potent neuro-toxin polluting our lakes, rivers, streams and coastal waters after a century of burning fossil fuels for energy and incinerating trash.

Today, over one million American women and children are at risk for mercury poisoning. What makes mercury a particularly troubling environmental pollutant is that it is highly toxic even in extremely small amounts. It builds up in the food chain and can persist in the environment for decades. Mercury deposits at an annual rate of 1/70 of a teaspoon can contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point where the fish are unsafe to eat. The EPA estimates that every year in the US over 150 tons of mercury is released into the air.

Children are the front line of this emerging public health and ecological crisis – even before drawing their first breath, a child’s brain can be permanently damaged from being exposed to mercury in the womb at critical times of development. To spot the growing evidence that mercury poisoning is evident, and is toxic to humans in increasingly smaller doses, the EPA has been slow to address this public health problem in a comprehensive and thorough manner. Mercury contamination and human exposure need to be priority issues for you and your administrations. In addition to being a risk to human health, mercury tainted fish can have economic consequences as well. Sporting commercial fishing industries depend on a supply of safe fish and so does the tourist industry.

Meaningful steps need to be taken now to protect public health and preserve an important food source that we all depend on. For the sake of our children and future generations we look to you for your leadership on this important issue.