No More
Mercury: Reports
Made in the U.S.A.: Power Plants and Mercury Pollution Across the Country
Power plants are the largest industrial source of U.S. air emissions of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that poses serious health hazards. Mercury is particularly harmful to the developing brain; even lowlevel exposure can cause learning disabilities, developmental delays, lowered IQ, and problems with attention and memory. More. 9/8/05
The Fine Print: How a Loophole in the ‘Clear Skies’ Bill Lets Power Plants Off the Hook for Their Mercury Emissions
This report analyzes a mercury loophole in the latest version of the Bush administration’s “Clear Skies” bill (S.131) that would exclude from regulation power plant units the emit 30 or fewer pounds of mercury per year. The report finds that provision could exempt 39 percent of the nation’s coal-fired power plant units from having to take action to reduce their mercury emissions. More. 4/6/05
Fishing
for Trouble: How Toxic Mercury Contaminates Fish in U.S. Waterways
Toxic mercury, largely emitted from coalburning power plants, is polluting waterways,
contaminating the fish we eat, and posing a serious threat to public health.
State and tribal health departments issue fish consumption advisories in order
to warn people to limit or avoid consumption of contaminated fish species from
local rivers, lakes, and other waterbodies. This report details the active fish
consumption advisories issued by the states in 2003 due to mercury pollution
in local waterways and finds that fish in a large percentage of America’s lakes,
rivers, and coastal waters are not safe for unlimited consumption. More.
10/14/04
Reel
Danger: Power Plant Mercury Pollution and the Fish We Eat
This report analyzes the
first available data from EPA’s ongoing National Study of Chemical Residues
in Lake Fish Tissue, a four-year study of 268 chemicals in fish from a representative
sample of 500 lakes and reservoirs in the continental U.S. We analyze the first
two years of EPA’s quality-assured data, which includes fish from 260 lakes
and reservoirs collected in 1999-2000 and 2001. More.
8/3/04
