The Greenpeace Mercury Study was created in reaction to a Bush
Administration proposal to weaken a Clinton-era decision that would
have reduced mercury emissions from power plants, a leading cause
of mercury pollution in the United States, by 90 percent by 2008.
“Mercury emissions from coal power plants are dangerous and toxic
to our environment and the fish we eat,” stated Chris Miller,
Greenpeace Clean Energy Now! Campaigner. “The American people have
a right to know what is in their bodies and the have the right to
know why their President is not protecting their health from this
dangerous poison.”
While elevated levels of mercury are harmful to everyone, women
of childbearing age are especially at risk because developing
fetuses are vulnerable to mercury contamination. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
estimate that one out of every six children born in America,
approximately 630,000 kids, have a risk of unsafe levels of mercury
in their body. “Exposure to mercury in the womb is particularly
dangerous and can affect the development of memory, attention and
language skills. This damage can permanently affect their quality
of life, academic success and economic prospects in life. We need
presidential leadership to eliminate this preventable poisoning of
our children and families,” Miller explained.
The event was held at Hair by Conroy, a salon in south
Pittsburgh, which opened its doors to Greenpeace in order to
conduct the mercury testing. “When Greenpeace asked to use my salon
for hair sampling, I jumped at the chance. We need to stop the
dirty energy industry and the Bush administration from polluting
our air, water and food, passing the health risks on to the most
vulnerable among us, children and pregnant women,” said salon owner
Tom Conroy.
An academic laboratory, the
Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North
Carolina-Asheville, is performing the analysis for Greenpeace’s
Mercury Study. The study is part of Greenpeace’s global Clean
Energy Now! Campaign that is committed to ending our addiction to
fossil fuels by promoting the increased use of clean renewable
energy and energy efficiency as solutions for the world’s growing
power needs. The campaign has been successful by working with local
and state governments, students and other groups to stop dirty
energy projects and to increase investment in clean energy like
wind and solar.
