Mercury From Coal-Burning Power Plants Threatens Our Water, Fish and Health

Coal-burning power plants are the largest industrial source of mercury emissions in the United States, and ten percent of these emissions come from plants in Texas - more than any other state. Five of the nation's top ten emitters of mercury are in the Lone Star State.

When mercury is released into the air, it settles in rivers, lakes, and streams. Bacteria in the water convert it to methyl mercury, a very toxic form of mercury. The toxic mercury bioaccumulates in the bodies of animals. Eating contaminated fish is the main way people are exposed to unsafe levels of mercury. Unlike with some other toxins, there is no way to clean or cook mercury out of fish.

The Texas Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for over 329,000 acres of lakes and rivers, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.

• Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that causes learning and developmental disabilities in children. A mother can pass mercury on to her baby during pregnancy and later during breastfeeding. One out of every six U.S. women of childbearing age have mercury in their bodies at levels that may adversely affect their unborn child.
• Several studies have shown that children exposed to mercury emissions have a higher risk of brain damage.
• A recent study from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio links industrial mercury emissions with increased rates of autism. The study found that for every 1000 pounds of mercury released by Texas power plants in 1998, there was a corresponding 3.7 percent increase in autism rates in Texas school districts in 2002. The researchers also noted that the prevalence of autism went down by as much as 2 percent for every ten miles from the source of the mercury pollution.
• Mercury is associated with heart attacks in older men.