From coal to table. We have toxic mercury in our food — from fish to rice — because of pollution from coal-fired power plants that is belched out into the air. It then rains down on our waters and moves up the food chain.
Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for more than a decade to cut toxic mercury pollution — along with more than 80 other toxic air pollutants, from arsenic to acid gases — from coal-fired power plants.
And medical researchers have learned more about how mercury damages the developing brains of babies and children. The bottom line: there is NO amount of mercury that is safe for a child’s brain.
Last week, EPA announced a proposal to reinstate the legal foundation of the standards that limit mercury and other toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants. This proposal is a public health necessity. It will shore up the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which have helped slash mercury pollution from coal plants by more than 80% in the decade since the standards were first enacted.
Although EPA’s proposal to restore the legal foundation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards is good news, our work as parents and caregivers to protect our children is not done. Not when coal plants continue to emit dangerous quantities of hazardous air pollution, including 33,000 pounds of mercury each year.
It is time to strengthen the substantive protections in the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards so that mercury linked to brain damage in children, as well as other pollutants that increase the risk of cancer, lung disease, and other serious health harms, are no longer a threat to our families’ health and well-being.
Tell EPA: Moms Support Restoring the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards