Media release - February 8, 2006
Interim results of the nation’s largest mercury hair sampling project were released today by the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. The report found mercury levels exceeding the EPA’s recommended limit of one microgram of mercury per gram of hair in one in five women of childbearing age tested.
More than 6,600 people from 50 states of all ages participated
in the hair tests conducted by Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.
Mercury contamination is a particular concern for women of
childbearing years (16 to 49 years old) and their small children
(under the age of six) because mercury exposure in the womb can
cause neurological damage and other health problems in children.
The EPA has not established mercury exposure health standards for
older children, men, or women older than 49.
"We teach our children if you make a mess, you need to clean it
up," said Navis Bermudez, Sierra Club's Environmental Quality
Representative. "The same rule should hold true for polluting power
plants. This study should be a wake-up call for state governments
to move to clean sources of energy in order to keep women and
children mercury-free."
Coal burning power plants are the nation's biggest mercury
polluter, releasing 42 percent of the country's industrial mercury
pollution. Mercury from dirty power plants falls into lakes,
streams and oceans, concentrating in fish and shellfish, which are
then consumed by people.
"In the samples we analyzed, the greatest single factor
influencing mercury exposure was the frequency of fish
consumption," said Dr. Steve Patch, Co-director of EQI and
co-author of the report. "We saw a direct relationship between
people's mercury levels and the amount of store-bought fish, canned
tuna fish or locally caught fish people consumed."
"Greenpeace started the Mercury Hair Sampling Project in
response to President Bush's failure to clean up power plant
mercury pollution", stated Greenpeace campaigner Casey Harrell. "It
was very disappointing to hear President Bush call for more coal
burning power plants in the State of the Union address when clean
energy sources are available."
In 2005, the EPA proposed weak power plant mercury regulations
that violate the Clean Air Act according to an ongoing lawsuit
filed by 15 State Attorneys General. Switching from coal and oil to
wind and solar energy would reduce pollution and its negative
health impacts, help solve global warming and create jobs.
Home hair sampling kits are available at cost via Greenpeace's
web site: www.greenpeaceusa.org/mercury. The EQI report and
supporting documents will be available on the Greenpeace web site
on February 8, 2006.
VVPR info: Photos/Video are available at: http://usaphoto.greenpeace.org/Mercury_Media_Test/