"EPA Chided for Disregarding Mercury Study"

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Wed Mar 23, 8:41 AM ET

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites)'s decision to ignore researchers' analysis of possible health benefits from reducing mercury pollution from power plants was criticized Tuesday by Democrats in Congress. (yea!!!)

"Why is the EPA suppressing the evidence that mercury pollution can be controlled better and faster?" asked Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass.

EPA officials said the study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis wasn't submitted until Feb. 22, more than a month after the deadline the agency set for considering new data. The agency published its new regulations on mercury pollution from power plants on March 15.
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Hammitt's study estimated the potential public health benefits from cutting mercury pollution from coal-burning power plants in half 15 years from now at $5 billion a year, compared to the EPA's estimate of up to $50 million a year. The EPA put the cost of the cleanup to utilities and users of electricity at $750 million a year in 2020. <more>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&e=6&u=/ap/20050323/ap_on_sc/epa_mercury_study_2



It's nice to know someone is thinking about something besides Schiavo. This is a huge blunder/coverup on the part of the EPA. I hope people raise heck about it.

[annabanana]

1. AAR was talking about it earlier...

Its current average rating is 4.33 with 165 vote(s).

(It's nice to know that we're not the ONLY ones distracted by the sparkly circus going on)

[jean]

2. I hope 'someone' is organizing women of child-bearing age who have been

tested and shown to have toxic mercury levels, such that their potential fetuses would be PERMANENTLY damaged.

The culture of life, protect the unborn, regressive Bush admin should be sued and held responsible for whatever lawyers can get out of such a suit.

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4. There is actually testing going on

You can get a "hair" test done (through Greenpeace, for instance) - and that can show results as I understand it. But if it doesn't show up - that doesn't mean someone doesn't have it.

A lot of people could have mercury stored in their brain and as far as I know there is no test for that.

[jean]

6. I'm no lawyer but have an active imagination...and wish there could be

a class action lawsuit or something of that type for women BEFORE they even become pregnant

- since the damage mercury does to human fetuses has been documented (I think) - can't Bush be nailed for his poison policies?
(Oh - we can't let our policies hurt BUSINESS - but it's okay if we permanently damage our children) before the kids are even conceived?

If there's no way a woman can purge her system of mercury, is she then doomed to (likely) produce a seriously damaged/compromised child? Perhaps it could be framed in terms of how much loss of income or production ability is involved if Bush's poison policies diminish a baby's capacity...

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7. It appears that the B**H administration is doing everything it can

to shield companies from prosecution. There was the thing about class action suits having to go to Federal Courts - which don't have the manpower to deal with such... and there is this in the "Protecting America in the War on Terror Act of 2005" - people are worried about mercury in vaccines - so there are additions to this bill to shield companies in regards to vaccines.

* A measure that would prevent health care providers from cautioning patients regarding toxic components of FDA-approved medications and vaccines

* Placing restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act regarding access to information on vaccine safety

* Limitations on public access to information regarding vaccine research, production, and regulation

* A preempting of state legislation regarding vaccines and vaccine components such as the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. For example, the recently passed Iowa and California bills to restrict thimerosal use in pediatric vaccines would be null and void. Several other states have similar legislation pending.

* Provisions for defense of pharmaceutical companies against litigation regarding FDA-approved products, i.e. Vioxx lawsuits

* A requirement that the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS will provide their recommendations on vaccine injury compensation reform and the litigation of vaccine injuries. These important issues need fair, public hearings and do not belong in a Bioterrorism bill.

Conversely, several provisions have been strategically placed in the legislation that nearly all of us would support were they to stand alone, i.e. increasing death benefits to survivors of soldiers killed in Iraq. This clever craftsmanship of including laudable efforts on behalf of our military is designed to hinder legitimate dissent with the true intent behind S. 3: granting carte blanche power over this country’s vaccine program to the pharmaceutical industry. We cannot let this happen.

We invite you to join with us in opposing a bill with dire potential consequences for public health and the civil rights of all Americans. Below is a list of the organizations that formed the Civil Rights and Justice for Vaccine Injury Coalition for the 2003 project. Our mission statement is shown below. Please let us know by email at your earliest convenience if your organization would like to be involved in the Coalition's efforts regarding S. 3.


Sincerely,


Rita Shreffler
National Autism Association

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8. Results that were reported in Duluth Tribune

Duluth News Tribune

• One in four Wisconsin men sampled in an ongoing survey have elevated levels of toxic mercury in their bodies. The study also shows that 12 percent of women have elevated mercury levels -- above the 1-part-per-million threshold set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as a safe level in humans. The study -- by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health -- uses samples of hair collected from volunteers.

• In research released just last week, Vermont scientists found high levels of mercury in some birds that don't eat fish. That indicates airborne mercury is falling on forests and not just waterways, and that mercury buildup may be more prevalent in on- land ecosystems than previously believed. Some birds had mercury levels high enough to affect their reproduction. Scientists speculated that mercury was being absorbed by trees, then building up in moths that eat leaves and in the birds that eat moths.

• While most U.S. research has focused on mercury's effects on children and fetuses, a seven-year study of 1,833 Finnish men found that those with hair mercury levels of more than 2 parts per million were twice as likely to suffer heart attacks.

• In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing about 6 percent of American women of child-bearing age have mercury levels in their blood high enough to potentially harm a fetus. Other studies, including one last year by the EPA, show 16 percent to 21 percent of women above the safe mercury threshold.

• Also in 2004, the EPA and U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that young children, nursing mothers, pregnant women and women who may become pregnant should eat no more than two servings of fish, or 12 ounces total, per week. That means tuna from a can or walleye from the local lake. The EPA concluded that unborn children have much higher levels of mercury in their blood than their mothers do. The EPA estimates 630,000 babies are born in the United States each year with unsafe levels of mercury.

http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=10523&fcategory_desc=Mercury,%20Health,%20Pollution%20and%20Autism

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/11149891.htm

[Undercover Owl]

3. chided

"tsk tsk" and a finger wagging at them.
Oh well, CHIDED is better than nothing.

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5. I guess I must have really low expectations these days

I was happy to see the story make the news for a second day - and to have Democrats doing/saying anything about it.


If enough people made enough noise.... (wishful thinking)

Sigh... so many issues...