ONE IN FIVE WOMEN TESTED NATIONWIDE HAS MERCURY LEVELS HIGHER THAN EPA LIMIT
Interim Results of Largest Mercury Hair Sampling Project Confirm Impacts of Dirty Power
Washington - Interim results of the nation’s largest mercury hair sampling project were released today by the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. The report found mercury levels exceeding the EPA’s recommended limit of one microgram of mercury per gram of hair in one in five women of childbearing age tested.
More than 6,600 people from 50 states of all ages participated in the hair tests conducted by Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Mercury contamination is a particular concern for women of childbearing years (16 to 49 years old) and their small children (under the age of six) because mercury exposure in the womb can cause neurological damage and other health problems. The EPA has not established mercury exposure health standards for older children, men, or women older than 49.
"We teach our children if you make a mess, you need to clean it up," said Navis Bermudez, Sierra Club's Environmental Quality Representative. "The same rule should hold true for polluting power plants. This study should be a wake-up call for state governments to move to clean sources of energy in order to keep women and children mercury-free."