Fw: Mercury Poses Risk to One in 10 U.S. Pregnancies

[Guest guest]

Strange how they totally ignore probably the most obvious source of mercury

contamination---dental fillings. Request composite resin instead for all

your dental work.

Patty

----- Original Message -----

From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Monday, March 12, 2001 1:44 PM

Subject: Mercury Poses Risk to One in 10 U.S. Pregnancies

Mercury Poses Risk to One in 10 U.S. Pregnancies

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, March 5, 2001 (ENS) - One in 10 women of childbearing

age in the United States are at risk of having newborns with neurological

problems due to in utero mercury exposure, according to a government

study released last week. Fetuses are exposed to mercury in the womb

primarily because of their mothers' consumption of contaminated fish.

" These new findings amount to an estimated 375,000 babies being born

each year at risk of neurological problems due to exposure to mercury

in the womb, " said Bender, executive director of the Mercury

Policy Project. " Data in the Centers for Disease Control report indicate

that at least 10 percent of women of childbearing age have levels of

mercury in their bodies that exceed what the [u.S. Environmental

Protection Agency] considers acceptable and this translates to nearly

six million women. "

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report provides results from the

first nationally representative sample of mercury in human blood and

hair in the U.S. Earlier reports were based on estimates of human fish

consumption.

The study results were published in the March 2, 2001 " Morbidity and

Mortality Weekly Report. "

" New studies show that far more women are at risk of exposure to

methlymercury than previously thought, " said Caroline DeWaal,

director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

" It is imperative that the Food and Drug Administration act promptly to

monitor commercial seafood for mercury and to remove unsafe fish from the

market. "

Mercury, a heavy metal, is a potent toxin. When ingested in even tiny

amounts can cause devastating effects on the human nervous system,

especially for children and the unborn. Associated illnesses include

brain, lung and kidney damage and even death.

Mercury is released into the atmosphere by air pollution from power

plants, waste incinerators and industrial processes. It is emitted

into the air and then deposited into oceans, lakes and streams where

it is ingested by fish, and then by humans and wildlife.

" High mercury levels were previously thought to be largely confined to

individuals who eat significantly more fish than the average person, "

said Andy Buchsbaum, water quality project manager at the National

Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center. " These new

results indicate that exposure to mercury may be more widespread and

not limited to large consumers of fish. "

Water pollution caused by air emissions of mercury has prompted public

health agencies in 40 states to warn people - particularly women of

childbearing

age and young children - to limit or cease consumption of

certain species of mercury contaminated fish. In mid-January, the Food

and Drug Administration issued new consumer guidance warning pregnant

women to not eat certain predatory fish like shark, swordfish, king

mackerel and tilefish.

But a U.S. General Accounting Office report issued a month later was

highly critical of FDA's general lack of oversight.

The FDA has set a voluntary action level of one part per million of

methylmercury, the form of mercury found in fish and other seafood.

That action level is not legally binding, and the FDA does not test

for it or enforce it in seafood.

The watchdog magazine " Consumer Reports " revealed last month that its own

studies found that half the samples of swordfish it tested exceeded the

FDA's

action level.

Six states - including Vermont, New Jersey, Minnesota, Connecticut,

Maine and, most recently, New Hampshire - also warn pregnant women to

limit consumption of canned tuna to no more than one or two cans per

week.

" The results clearly demonstrate that the mercury levels present in

these women's bodies are far greater than what is healthy for their

unborn children, " said Uram of the Sierra Club's Midwest office.

" We owe it to our ourselves and our children to take action to curb

the mercury pollution behind these alarming figures. "

The CDC report is available at:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5008a2.htm

For more information, see the Mercury Policy Project website at:

http://www.mercurypolicy.org and the National Wildlife Federation on t

he web at: http://www.nwf.org

© Environment News Service (ENS) 2001.