US | Bipartisan Legislation to Track Mercury Pollution

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act, a bipartisan bill that would establish a national mercury monitoring network to protect human health, safeguard fisheries, and track the environmental effects of emissions reductions. The senators previously introduced this bill in August 2018.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant ecological and public health concern, especially for children and pregnant women. An estimated 200,000 children born in the United States each year are exposed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high enough to impair neurological development. Scientists, however, must rely on limited information to understand the critical linkages between mercury emissions and environmental response and human health.  In order to successfully design, implement, and assess solutions to the problem of mercury pollution, scientists need comprehensive long-term data. This bipartisan bill would address this discrepancy and help to acquire critical data.

“Exposure to mercury, a powerful neurotoxin, can inflict long-lasting and even fatal damage, especially in babies and young children,” said Senator Carper. “Despite the significant reduction in cases of children exposed to mercury pollution in recent years—progress due in part to efforts to reduce mercury and air toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants—more than 200,000 babies are still exposed to unsafe levels of mercury annually. Our bipartisan bill would establish a nationwide mercury monitoring system to better protect communities and to collect data on the impacts of this dangerous toxin. As the Trump Administration tries to move forward with dismantling commonsense mercury emission reduction standards, efforts like this one should send a clear message that reducing mercury pollution is a popular, bipartisan goal.”

“Mercury is one of the most persistent and dangerous pollutants that threatens our health and environment today.  This powerful toxin affects the senses, brain, spinal cord, kidneys, and liver.  It poses significant risks to children and pregnant women, causing an elevated risk of birth defects and problems with motor skills,” said Senator Collins.  “This legislation would establish a comprehensive, robust national monitoring network for mercury to provide the data needed to help make decisions to protect the people and environment of Maine and the United States.”

“We appreciate Senators Collins’ and Carper’s bipartisan leadership to further protect babies, children, pregnant women and all communities from the harms of mercury pollution,” said Harold P. Wimmer, National President and CEO of the American Lung Association. “The success of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in reducing mercury levels shows how important monitoring for this pollutant is. EPA’s recent proposal to undermine those standards must not be finalized. Together with the continued enforcement of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, this legislation can help further protect the health of all Americans from mercury.”

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