Disgusting: "Mercury Risk Overstated, House Panel Says"

[wiggs]

From Yahoo News, who credit AP:

"WASHINGTON - Dangers of toxic mercury pollution in the environment have been overstated, the House Resources Committee says in a report issued in anticipation of new regulatory proposals from the Bush administration."

I post this in GD Politics instead of LBN because this is pure politics and corporate favoritism. As outlined in RFK Jr's book, the coal industry is in bed with this administration, and cooked science with respect to Mercury has been obvious for a long time.

This is OUTRAGEOUS, DANGEROUS, DISGUSTING legislation that is not sexy in the news, but is very, very important. This and other environmental issues are can't-miss, important topics for progressives, but our candidates and democratic leaders are MIA.

I can't believe this!


Link: sorry, wish I knew how to post a working link. But check Yahoo News.

[musette_sf]

1. Crap like this comes out

and in the meantime, I can't eat tuna more than once every few weeks because of MERCURY. What the hell are these people smoking?

[EVDebs]

2. Hmmm. China's energy is 70-80% coal-fired plants. Mercury is

linked to neurological disorders and we have high mercury content in seafood, especially swordfish, tuna. Expecting mothers are warned against it and autism is on the rise in California.

I guess they want to 'write off' blue state problems, but mercury -- tons of it-- is given off by so-called dirty dinosaur coal-fired power plants.

Republicans probably control this House Resources Committee, correct ? Thanks for posting this wiggs.

[wiggs]

6. Yes

Republicans do control this committee.

In a statement reminiscent of the tobacco wars, the article quotes a spokesman as saying that there is no proven link between mercury in the environment and coal fired plants.

Next: fire retardant chemicals found in salmon (true finding) is nutritious.

[gizmo1979]

3. tell them to come to Wis.I'll take them fishin!

And then make them eat every bite!

[jean]

4. Mercury levels directly affect the UNBORN - I guess that's ok with repubs

don't abort the fetus...but go ahead and poison it

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. I disagree for the following reasons.....

http://map1.epa.gov/html/newsnov.htm

Recent Advisory News

* California Releases Fish Consumption Report - The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency announced the release of the final report Chemicals in Fish: Consumption of Fish and Shellfish in California and the United States. The Final Report is based on an extensive review of fish consumption surveys conducted throughout the United States, and includes a critical evaluation of these studies. The information and recommendations contained in the report are planned to be used for supporting the functions and activities of various state programs including development of fish advisories, development of water quality objectives for environmental contaminants, and other exposure-related assessments. A copy of the report is available at OEHHA's web site.


# Exposure of an Inuit Population to Mercury and Lead - Almost 500 Inuit men and women were tested for blood mercury and lead concentrations in 1992. Results showed that mercury levels were correlated (r=.56) with omega-3 fatty acid levels (a biomarker of marine food consumption). Blood lead levels were also correlated with omega-3, although to a lesser extent (r=.31). Age and consumption of seal and beluga were also related to mercury levels. A significant proportion of the women of childbearing age had mercury and lead concentrations above those that have been associated with subtle neurodevelopmental deficits in other populations.

Source: Dewailly, E., P. Ayotte, S. Bruneau, G. Lebel, P. Levallois, J. P. Weber. 2001. Exposure of the Inuit population of Nunavik (Arctic Quebec) to lead and mercury. Archives of Environmental Health 56(4): pp. 350-357.


http://es.epa.gov/ncer/publications/workshop/

http://www.envirohealthaction.org/pollution/health_effects/Health_Effects_of_Mercury/articles.cfm?article_ID=182
Children’s (Un)Healthy Month
Bush warns of mercury danger, ignores solution

WASHINGTON — During this third week of the President’s Children’s Health Month campaign, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is urging parents to feed their children a healthy diet, and to take steps to reduce their families’ exposure to pesticides and other contaminants in food. Today (October 15), EPA advises parents to “Protect Children from Contaminated Fish” by tracking local fish advisories for mercury and refraining from eating mercury-contaminated fish. Ironically, while EPA warns parents about the serious danger of mercury in fish, the White House is working to ensure that the #1 source of mercury can keep on polluting.


http://www.healing-arts.org/children/holmes.htm
Chelation of Mercury for the Treatment of Autism
Bernard, et al, have written an excellent article comparing autism with mercury poisoning. All aspects of both disorders are examined, including symptoms, signs and findings on laboratory tests. The parallels between the two disorders is disturbingly obvious, even to the most casual reader. This, coupled with many case reports of clinical improvement among autistic children upon removal of at least a small part of their whole-body load of mercury, seems to indicate that many cases of autism today are, in fact, cases of mercury poisoning. The early environmental insult, in these cases, is mercury exposure that overwhelmed the body’s attempts at detoxification.

[wiggs]

7. Thanks and why don't journalists...

....why don't journalists look up stuff like this and offer the reader more than one side of the talking points?

And speaking of Inuit, I remember reading last year that breast milk from some Inuit mothers is so contaminated that it would qualify as toxic waste.

I know everyone in the BA sleeps well at night....but how do the journalists and democratic leaders who are supposed to be the checks and balances get through?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Not until a certain percentage of their own loved ones are afflicted, and

perhaps not even then if they cannot understand basic science and biology... or are unwilling to acknowledge it because it is "uncomfortable".

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. An interesting study that would probably amount to

nothing... but then again... it is in the third trimester that the most sensitive circuits are being built in the nervous system of a fetus... it would be interesting to note when the prevailing winds are blowing out of the west in California.. and which trimester the children who develop autism matched up with (if any) the westerly winds in California.

Winds blowing out of the west should be bringing some of that nice Hg from China.. I am reaching here.. but wouldn't it be something if a pattern developed?? I mean, whew what a slap in the face it would be to the people who released this on Yahoo.