Why should EPA worry about mercury emissions?
Browner: Mercury is one of the most potent health threats in the environment, posing particular risks to children and developing fetuses. The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that even at low doses prenatal and early childhood exposure to mercury can cause developmental delays and even permanent brain damage in children. A recent National Academy of Sciences report found that 60,000 children born each year in the United States are at risk from exposure to mercury. Mercury is particularly dangerous because it accumulates and persists in the environment. Once released into the air from smokestacks mercury is deposited in lakes and streams and then accumulates in the fatty tissue of fish and wildlife, which can be consumed by humans. In 2001 mercury contamination forced 44 states to issue fish advisories warning consumers to limit consumption of fish from lakes, rivers, and streams. According to EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory data Texas, Ohio
