The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
Nov - Dec 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Get the mercury out of your feet (and the rest of your body too)
California has opportunities to reduce mercury poisoning
Recent research indicates 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. That tuna-fish sandwich that you feed your kids could be doing more harm than good.
Given the severity of the mercury problem, we need to cut down releases of mercury. In recent years Sierra Club California has successfully advocated for a number of mercury-reduction steps, 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.
- AB 966, authored by Assemblymember Lori Saldana (a former chair of the Sierra Club's 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. AB 966 has been stalled by intense opposition from the California Dental Association, but clean-water advocates will continue to push the issue.
- AB 1240, authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (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 scrapping. The auto manufacturers successfully stopped the bill in the industry-friendly Assembly by promising to undertake a voluntary mercury-switch-removal effort.
- AB 1415, authored by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (Agoura Hills) and sponsored by Sierra Club California, was signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger on Oct. 6. The new law will ban new sales of mercury-containing switches, relays, and measuring devices, the largest remaining source of mercury in products.
- With the help of Sen. Liz Figueroa (Fremont), 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. Burnt out fluorescent bulbs - which we recommend for their energy efficiency - should be disposed of at a hazardous-waste-collection so that the mercury can be recycled. Unfortunately, proper disposal is often extremely inconvenient, especially for household users with small numbers of bulbs. The Sierra Club has been working towards establishment of a statewide system for convenient disposal.
© 2005 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler