Mercury Pollution

Children at Risk from Mercury

As many as 1 in 12 women of child-bearing age in the United States have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, exposing their babies to unnecessary and dangerous risk of neurological harm. Much of the pollution results from burning coal for electricity. The resulting mercury pollution goes up smokestacks in the form of air pollution, then settles in rivers and streams, where fish absorb it. Eventually, the mercury ends up in fish that humans eat – tuna fish, for example, as well as other fish on the upper end of the food chain.

CPR Member Scholars work to strengthen existing restrictions on mercury pollution by power plants, chlor-alkali plants, and others.

• Baltimore Sun Op-Ed.  Read Rena Steinzor's February 21, 2008 op-ed in the Baltimore Sun on why a federal court decision rejecting the Bush Administration's cap-and-trade approach to mercury pollution violates the law.
• Seattle P-I Op-Ed.  Read Catherine O'Neill's October 31, 2007 op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Tuna, with a side of mercury.” In it, she notes the conflicting advice to expectant mothers from seemingly reliable sources about fish consumption and mercury pollution, and argues that the real solution is to stop burdening women with the challenge of avoiding such risks, and instead burden polluters with the responsibility of preventing them.
• Comments and Testimony.  Read Catherine O'Neill's 1/3/05 comments to EPA on its mercury pollution credit-trading proposal, or her 11/17/04 testimony to the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs of the House Government Reform Committee.
• CPR Report.  Read Catherine O'Neill's October 2004 report on mercury pollution's effect on minorities in the Upper Great Lakes region, Mercury, Risk and Justice.
• Rena Steinzor and Lisa Heinzerling's article in the April 2004 Environmental Law Reporter (posted by permission).
• A CPR Perspective.  CPR Member Scholars have authored articles on related topics, as part of the CPR Perspectives Series. These include Perspectives on Emissions Trading and Mercury.
• Daytona Beach N-J Op-Ed.  Read Rena Steinzor’s op-ed on EPA’s Mercury Trading Program in the January 13, 2003 Daytona Beach News-Journal.
• Center for American Progress Op-Eds.  Read Rena Steinzor and Lisa Heinzerling’s op-eds on mercury pollution for the Center for American Progress website: On March 17, 2004, A Perfect Storm: Mercury and the Bush Administration, and on March 16, 2004, Political Intervention: The White House Doctors Mercury Conclusions.