Why Is Mercury Pollution A Problem?
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the brain, heart, and immune system. Developing fetuses and children are especially at risk. Every mother wants her child to grow up happy and healthy, but scientists estimate that one in six women has enough mercury in her body to put her child at risk should she become pregnant. The main way people are exposed to mercury is by eating fish. Scientists have found that just a gram of mercury, about a drop, deposited over the course of a year was enough to contaminate the fish in an entire lake. Right now, North Carolina’s power plants emit 58% of the mercury that ends up in our state’s waterways. In fact, electric utilities are the only unregulated source of mercury pollution. That pollution has resulted in mercury-related fish consumption advisories that cover every mile of our coastal waterways and every waterway south and east of I-85. What Has The Federal Government Done? The federal Clean Air Act requires that every power plant in the
