EPA Says It Is Unnecessary To Regulate Mercury That Can Harm Pregnant Women & Children

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it is not “appropriate and necessary” to regulate emissions of mercury and other harmful air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In 2012, the EPA endorsed the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which was intended to protect “our children and communities by limiting emissions of mercury and other air toxics from power plants,” according to the federal agency.

Although the new rollback has been opposed by unions, business associations and even utility companies, the EPA, which has contradicted its own Science Advisory Board, announced that it would overhaul MATS since it alleges the benefits don’t justify the costs even though there is scientific evidence that has recently linked pollution and coronavirus death rates.

The reduction of mercury exposure, which has been linked to damage to the lungs, brain, and other vital organs, as well as developmental disorders, is believed to save countless lives yearly and avoid illnesses such as asthma and heart attacks. The EPA’s decision will be challenged in court by the Natural Resources Defense Council since it could result in overwhelming health consequences, especially among people of color, pregnant women, and children who live near coal and oil-fired power plants.

African-Americans, who are 75% more likely to live in communities located near polluting facilities, are subject to 54% more health complications that result from air pollution, compared with the general population. Mercury and other toxins can also cause irreparable harm to children and pregnant women since they can disrupt the central nervous system when ingested or absorbed through the skin. In pregnant women, fetuses exposed to mercury may suffer brain or organ development issues.

In addition, dangerous levels of mercury have been detected in breast milk, contaminated food, water, dust, and dirt, which infants may be exposed to when they begin crawling. Studies have linked mercury exposure in infants to language, attention, and memory delays or dysfunctions.

Ellen Kurlansky, a former air policy analyst at the EPA Office of Air and Radiation from 1996 to 2018 who was instrumental in the development of the MATS rules, responded to the EPA’s decision, saying, “This action, which is a gift to the coal industry at the expense of all Americans, is an attack on public health justified by a phony cost-benefit analysis that purposely inflates the cost of MATS and ignores the value of the human health benefits.”

Meanwhile, Janet McCabe, who was a former acting assistant administrator at the EPA Office of Air and Radiation from 2009-2017 and is now a professor at the Indiana University (IU) McKinney School of Law and director of the IU Environmental Resilience Institute, said, “This is a sad day for public health protection in the United States and sets a very troubling precedent for how the EPA evaluates the impact of policy on public health. Though the administration claims otherwise, this ruling puts at risk years of progress to reduce the public’s exposure to toxic pollutants like mercury that accumulate in the environment.”