California has opportunities to reduce mercury poisoning
by Bill Magavern, Senior Representative, Sierra
Club California
Recent scientific findings indicate that mercury contamination of
our air and water may be even more hazardous than previously believed.
In March, Texas researchers found a possible link between mercury
in the environment and autism, a severe developmental disorder in
which children seem isolated from the world around them. Earlier this
year, a pediatric study concluded that lower IQ levels linked to mercury
exposure in the womb cost the U.S. $8.7 billion a year, as 630,000
children are born each year with unsafe levels of mercury in their
blood.
Mercury released into the air and water eventually can find its
way to our tables via contaminated fish. So that tunafish sandwich
that you feed your kids for lunch could actually be doing more harm
than good.
Given the severity of the mercury problem, we need to do everything
we can to reduce releases of mercury. Sierra Club California has
successfully advocated for a number of mercury reduction steps in
recent years, including bans on the sale of new mercury-containing
thermostats, thermometers and novelties, and tighter restrictions
on mercury-containing wastes going to landfills. This year we are
seeking four new measures:
1. AB 966, authored by Assembly Member Lori Saldana (a former chair
of the San Diego Chapter) would require dentists to install devices
that keep mercury out of the wastewater leaving their offices. The
cities of San Francisco and Palo Alto, along with the states of
Maine and Connecticut, already require these amalgam separators
to remove from water the mercury used in some dental fillings. We
expect the Assembly to vote on the bill in January. Opposition from
the dental association is intense.
2. AB 1240, authored by Assembly Member Lloyd Levine from Van Nuys,
would require the removal of all mercury switches from motor vehicles
at the end of their lives, with the costs paid by the auto manufacturers.
Although the newest vehicles no longer contain mercury switches,
millions of cars on the road now do include mercury capsules that
need to be removed before the auto is scrapped. Opposition from
the auto manufacturers has stalled the bill for now.
3. AB 1415, authored by Assembly Member Fran Pavley from Agoura
Hills, would ban new sales of mercury-containing switches, relays
and measuring devices, the largest remaining source of mercury in
products. The Assembly has approved the bill, and the Senate will
act on it soon. The State's Department of Toxic Substances Control
supports AB 1415.
4. With the help of Senator Liz Figueroa, from the East Bay Area,
we are pushing the Department of Toxic Substances Control to stiffen
enforcement of its rules for recycling mercury-containing light
bulbs. Currently, only about 25% of these lamps are being recycled;
the others go into the trash, with the mercury escaping into the
environment sooner or later. If you have fluorescent bulbs (which
we recommend for their energy efficiency), you should take them
to a hazardous waste collection site when they burn out, so the
mercury can be recycled.
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