Republicans say mercury poisoning is no big deal

[quaoar]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/02/26/mercury/index.html

Heavy-metal madness
A report by two congressmen downplays the connection between toxic mercury emissions and human health.

From
By Amanda Griscom Little

Feb. 26, 2005 | House Resources Committee chair Richard Pombo, R-Calif. -- longtime bete noire of the environmental community -- seems to have cooked up some fishy science in a report released last week titled "Mercury in Perspective: Fact and Fiction About the Debate Over Mercury".

The report -- written not by scientists but rather by aides to Pombo and another member of his committee, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. -- aims to downplay the overwhelming evidence that mercury from coal-burning power plants poses a significant health risk to Americans. Two of the report's claims are particularly stunning, as science journalist Chris C. Mooney points out. One: "There has been no credible evidence of harm to pregnant women or their unborn children from regular consumption of fish." And two: "Current, peer-reviewed scientific literature does not show any link between U.S. power plant emissions and mercury in fish."

The report ignores reams of data indicating that mercury disrupts fetal development and can cause learning and memory disabilities in children, as well as recent research linking mercury exposure to increased risk of cardiac problems in adults. And it gives short shrift to the well-established fact that coal-burning power plants are the major industrial source of mercury pollution in the U.S.

The national controversy over mercury pollution, having simmered for more than a year, will finally come to a boil on March 15, when the Bush EPA is legally required to finalize its rule determining how rigorously the toxic pollutant will be regulated. The first draft of the rule, published in January 2004, was roundly criticized by dozens of members of Congress, public health advocates, and environmental groups for being notably weaker than a rule proposed during the Clinton administration.

[acmavm]

1. The Republican Party, no lie too disgraceful, no propaganda too

dishonest to stop them from cashing in and preying on the ignorance of so many Americans. And hey, if their benefactors make a few bucks as well, it's all good (for them).

[havocmom]

2. Since it suits the neocon agenda that citizens are easily deceived,

heavy metals would be helpful. Lowering of the intellectual capacity of the people due to toxic metals would certainly not be a problem as far as they are concerned. Surprised they aren't requiring vaccinations of the stuff... oops...

[Erika]

7. I agree

Poison the environment especially in urban areas, cut off medical care, turn teachers into babysitters. Soon you will have a culture that would be grateful for a tin shanty, rice three times a day, and a chance to earn money enough to pay for the rice and shanty.

Bush's vision for America. Rubber stamped by a self proclaimed "Christian" GOP.

[Mountainman]

3. So what happens if the right gets their way?

What kind of country do they envision if the repeal all environmental protections along with all social programs? Do they even have a vision of that world. Will they just step over the dying and homeless? Don't they need clean air and water too? I don't get them.

[Erika]

6. The neocons in power care about the $ only

Why do you think Bush has been labeled as the Antichrist?

He has fought environmental laws, laws to help the needy, laws to build education, laws to assist veterans.

[FreedomAngel82]

16. Obviously not

All they care about is being raptured, being right and their way or the highway. They don't care about the enviornment and the rest of us here. *sigh* :cry:

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Kick! This needs to be publicized. The scum is at it again. n/t

[quaoar]

8. This is most likely

at the behest of the coal industry and the power industry which would rather pump tons of mercury into the atmosphere than spend money to clean their emissions.

Coal-fired power planst are the number 1 cause of mercury in the environment. It is a byproduct of burning coal. The mercury travels up the stack and is carried downwind from the plant -- sometimes hundreds of miles.

The mercury falls to the earth and is washed into streams and lakes where it enters the food chain through small fish that are then eaten by larger fish. Mercury concentrates as it moves up the food chain, so the largest fish have the worst contamination -- bass in lakes and tuna, shark, etc. in the ocean.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. I'm sure you're right - the power industry and the blivet** cartel

have been in each other's pockets from the first.

Clean up emissions? Naaaaah!!! Might cut into the profits! Besides, the Rapture is coming anyway, so who cares if the world is polluted? The Elect are going to be taken to Paradise any time now.

[Cha]

5. They think fascism and sadism is

okay, too..and lies, and mass murder..what's a little mercury poisoning?

Defects in children!
http://danpatch.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/mercbuild/src/poison.htm

http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/1/autism_mercury.htm

[Blue_Tires]

10. whether by war, poverty, or pollution

the repubs WILL kill us ALL!

[kineneb]

11. Haven't read Alice in Wonderland have they?

Remember the Mad Hatter? He was mad/crazy because he was suffering from mercury poisoning from the hat making trade. It was used in the processing of the beaver hair into those big, tall "beaver" top hats.
What ninnies. They really do hate children, including their own. Mercury doesn't care who it afflicts. If it is in the air or food chain, then we ALL get it. Pollution does not stop at the walls of their gated communities.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. I'm telling you, between the mercury and the perchlorate

it's like they're TRYING to breed dumber fuckin' people.

And judging by the way many Merkins vote, they're succeeding.

[depakid]

13. Of course it's Pombo

never met a nasty chemical he didn't like.

The man is profoundly ignorant (probably due to lead poisoning), utterly corrupt and dishonest to the core. He has been a disgrace to California for all too long- and frankly- it's maybe even more of a disgrace that the Democrats have been too lame to unseat him.

He's a menace to civilized society and a danger to his constituents.

[quaoar]

14. It is already necessary to limit one's intake of tuna

If you have children, you probably shouldn't let them eat tuna more than once a week.

[FreedomAngel82]

15. This is scary

:scared: I've been reading that this gets in pregnant women and their breast milk and gets into the babies. :scared:

[quaoar]

17. It does

It can cause damage to the development of the brain in younger children.

[earth mom]

18. What the FUCK is wrong with these assholes?!!!

:mad: I am beyond pissed at this one! A report written-not by scientists-but congressmen and their aides?!!!!!!!! Mercury poisoning is a FACT!!!!!!!!! Oh I'm so angry, I can't see straight!!!!!!!!! :mad:

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[LdyGuique]

19. Online Newsweek has big article on Autism this week

There are strong correlations between the increase of autistic children and mercury poisoning during fetal growth and development. There has been such an increase in autism that it's now 1 out of 166 children, where it used to be a strange random anomoly.

During the past a 8-year period, 1992-3 and 2000-1 (all states)
Autism Epidemic

Newsweek article

[earth mom]

33. Thank you! The reason I'm ticked is because of this very reason!

They have and are poisoning our children and they could care less! :mad:

[Canuckistanian]

20. Ask people from Minimata, Japan if they agree with that

[Pepperbelly]

21. I think we ought to believe them as soon as they ...

publicly consume a tablespoon of quicksilver in front of the cameras.

[quaoar]

22. Now there's a good idea!

I'd pay to see that.

[journalist3072]

23. Here in DC....

One of our local high schools had to be closed on Friday, because of a Mercury leak within the school.

And they say it's not dangerous? WTF?

[quaoar]

26. What was leaking mercury?

I can't think of anything in a school that would have significant levels of mercury in it.

[journalist3072]

31. So far, they really aren't saying....

They have arrested a student in the case. There were reports that the student told police they got the mercury from the school's chemistry lab but the police are dismissing those reports. And the school said they removed all hazardous chemicals after a mercury spill happened at another school here last year.

[depakid]

37. It probably wasn't too big a deal

Elemental mercury isn't that big a deal unless you're in an enclosed area breathing in the vapor- which is why they closed the school down as a precaution.

The real problem is organic mercury- the methylmercuries. Those are what tend to concentrate in the environment and end up in things like fish.

A poster above mentioned Minamata disease, which is the classic example of what happens when substantial ammount of methylmercury contaminate the environments.

There's a cool slide show presentation of the Minamata disaster here:

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec0361/index.htm

[despairing optimist]

24. Human thermometers mean more jobs and more growth

[buddysmellgood]

25. But mercury aborts unborn babies. What are they saying?

[FreedomAngel82]

34. So if those republicans

are saying it doesn't effect anything they're saying they're now for abortion? :eyes:

[DemoTex]

27. I cannot suppress the twitch in my upper lip on this one.

It is my uncontrollable response to a perceived liar. Lotsa twitching going on with the Bu$h regime. Eh, Vern?

[zulchzulu]

28. Put your money where your mouth is, you Repugs

If mercury is no big deal, take a nice heapin' helpin' of some to prove you have confidence in the study.

Heck, you get a gold star if you feed your children mercury too.

Let's see who is full of shit.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

29. Why don't we send some mercury to all the repugs that are so

sure it is harmless? After all, how can a little mercury be so harmful?

Two or three months ago a kid in a local school system found a small amount of mercury somewhere (he said it was in the trash at a local dentist office - but who knows). Anyway this kid, apparently not knowing the danger with the substance, took it to school, drop some on the bus, tracked it into the building, he and some of his classmates managed to leave traces in various classrooms and the lunchroom. Long story short, the school officials realized they had a dangerous substance in the school - the state administrators stepped in, declared it a hazmat situation and the school was closed for two or three days while the clean up was done. It is that toxic they felt the need to send kids home and keep them there while the whole school was cleaned of all traces. Not sure what happened to the kid or anyone who touched the stuff. I don't think there have been any reported sickness due to the exposure but it certainly got some parents attention around here.

Leave it to King Chimpy & Co. to want to increase mercury in all of our lives just so come corporate buddies can made a buck or two and then their good buddies in Congress make it next to impossible to sue the polluters for the damages. Some bunch we got in DC, huh?

[quaoar]

30. Mercury from a thermometer, if swallowed

is usually not toxic because it is not absorbed by the stomach. It normally passes through the bowels.

The dangerous form of mercury is organic mercury, which is introduced into the food chain as a by-product of coal-fired power plants:

What is the most common source of organic mercury poisoning?

In the general population, the main source of mercury poisoning is the ingestion of mercury- contaminated food, usually fish. When lake, river or ocean water is contaminated with methyl-mercury compounds, the mercury accumulates and magnifies in the flesh of the fish. Organic mercury concentrations can be more than 1,000 times greater in the fish than in the surrounding water. People who eat fish as a main component of their diet may be at risk. If a river or lake is known to be polluted with mercury, fish eaters are warned to decrease their weekly intake of fish.

http://www.calpoison.org/public/mercury.html

What are the signs and symptoms of organic mercury poisoning?

Organic mercury compounds are very damaging. They are toxic by ingestion, inhalation, and skin and eye contact. These mercury compounds can attack all body systems. They can cause nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, weight loss, abdominal pain, diarrhea, kidney failure, skin burns and irritation, respiratory distress, swollen gums and mouth sores, drooling, numbness and tingling in the lips, mouth, tongue, hands and feet, tremors and incoordination, vision and hearing loss, memory loss, personality changes and headache. Allergic reactions can also occur.

Methyl-mercury, usually from contaminated food, is very dangerous to pregnant women. Methyl-mercury causes profound mental retardation, cerebral palsy, seizures, spasticity, tremors, and incoordination, along with eye and hearing damage in the unborn baby as a result of the mother's exposure. Organic mercury passes into the breast milk as well.

[Lindacooks]

32. Why, WHY is it that these insulated idiots never suffer the

consequences of their actions and stupidity??

GOD, I hate Repukes.

[rumpel]

35. The UN gave up on the mercury global resolution due to US opposition

the LA Times artcile said, "US Victory on Mercury....." couple of days as I recall, and I wondered victory over what?
It is disgusting beyond belief.

[Erika]

36. But Bushies call themselves Christians?

I think Christ had total contempt for government that tried to harm their own people. What kind of country/world will we have left before this guy leaves office in 2008?

[Nimrod]

38. And boob jobs are good for you!

::slams head against wall a few times::

Ow.

[depakid]

39. That idiot Tom Coburn from Oklahoma actually said that!

"....Speaking of doctors, physician-Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a new member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at last week's meeting on a bill restricting class-action suits. "You know," he said, "I immediately thought about silicone breast implants and the legal wrangling and the class-action suits off that.

"And I thought I would just share with you what science says today about silicone breast implants. If you have them, you're healthier than if you don't. That is what the ultimate science shows. . . . In fact, there's no science that shows that silicone breast implants are detrimental and, in fact, they make you healthier."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3130-2005Feb6.html