Tarah, I think the Chapter should develop a FACT Sheet and educational publication about the danger of mercury and the need in Iowa to track this pollution. I will be happy to help with this development as a volunteer. And I think I can raise the money to publish the material when it is completed. At the Governor's Water Summit, the water expert mentioned mercury in one sentence of her presentation saying, if I remember right, "we are beginning to measure mercury levels in some waters." Let's take the mercury bull by the horns and be proactive. Chris Bedford [log in to unmask] 515-283-0777 -----Original Message----- From: Tarah Heinzen [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thu 12/11/2003 5:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Subject: FW: Bush Administration Contradicts Itself about Mercury Iowa is one of only 6 states that doesn't have a program to educate the public about the risks of eating mercury contaminated fish, and our reliance on coal means this will be a growing public health threat here and elsewhere... tarah -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 2:07 PM To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask] Subject: Bush Administration Contradicts Itself about Mercury FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 10, 2003 CONTACT: Wendy Balazik, 202-675-2383 BUSH ADMINISTRATION CONTRADICTS ITSELF While Dismantling Mercury Protections, Administration Cautions Women and Children to Reduce Fish Consumption Washington, DC- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today expanded health warnings about the toxic effects of eating mercury-tainted fish in a draft advisory set to be finalized early next year. This comes on the heels of the Bush administration's recent sweeping changes that would make it easier for polluters to avoid cleaning up mercury. Today's action by the FDA and EPA increased the number of fish species with unsafe levels of mercury and expanded the list of people who are most hurt by mercury, adding children, nursing mothers and women who may become pregnant. "It is astonishing that while the Bush administration is warning people about increased health threats from eating mercury-laden fish, it is weakening the very clean air protections that would reduce mercury pollution," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club's executive director. "Just last week, the Bush administration announced a plan to loosen protections for mercury pollution in our air; and today, two federal agencies report that more fish than ever have dangerous levels of mercury. We call on the Bush administration to enforce clean air laws that are on the books and require power plants to install new technology to control this dangerous pollutant." Mercury is a powerful toxin that causes learning and developmental disabilities in children. Women of childbearing age and people who regularly and frequently eat highly contaminated fish, or even large amounts of moderately contaminated fish, are most likely to be at risk from mercury exposure. Children exposed in the womb or after birth, subsistence fisherman and certain Native American populations are at risk. Forty-four states have warned the public to limit consumption of fish from mercury-contaminated lakes and rivers. Mercury works its way up the aquatic food chain and into the human body in a toxic form. The threat is especially great to the offspring of women who have high levels of mercury -- hence the advisories that urge women of child-bearing age and children reduce the consumption of some species of fish and avoid others completely. One of every dozen of U.S. women of childbearing age has mercury in their bodies at levels that could threaten their unborn children. Airborne deposits account for the bulk of mercury, which occurs naturally in coal and rises out of it as it burns. Regulation has been sought under the 1990 Clean Air Act, with a December 15 deadline set for rule-making. The EPA seemed poised to order a 90 percent cutback in mercury emitted from coal-powered plants by 2008. Instead, the long-term goal will be a 70 percent reduction by 2018, the EPA said last week. By one estimate, that means 300 more tons of mercury coming down with the rain over the next 15 years. The EPA's decision to back off of its more stringent pollution control standards is an unacceptable concession to wealthy power companies that puts the public's health at risk, Pope said. # # # Wendy Balazik Media Coordinator Sierra Club Phone: 202-675-2383 Fax: 202-547-6009 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]