Beth's blog
Use Facebook to help protect kids from mercury in seafood
Be one of the first people to sign our new Facebook petition to protect kids from mercury in fish at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club!
And increase your impact and win prizes by inviting your friends to sign. The 3 people who recruit the most friends to sign by Monday, November 30 will win!
More About The Petition:
Oceana is asking Walmart and its subsidiary Sam's Club to post the Food and Drug Administration's mercury advice at their seafood displays.
While news stories about food recalls rip through the headlines at light speed, many families remain unaware of the ongoing risk of mercury in seafood. Because mercury can harm a young child or unborn baby's developing nervous system, the FDA has issued advice for women of child-bearing age and children to avoid or limit their consumption of certain fish that are contaminated with elevated levels of mercury.
Mercury Pollution Reduction Act Mark Up Postponed
As Emily posted last week, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act was scheduled for a mark up in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. After the sudden scheduling of the mark up generated a bunch of activity around the bill, the leadership of the committee decided to postpone its mark up to give legislators more time for consideration.
Mercury Pollution Reduction Act introduced in Senate
Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act (S. 1428) in the U.S. Senate. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), would phase-out the use of mercury technology in domestic chlorine production within two years.
Help the Mercury Bill Keep Moving
Today the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will
mark up H.R. 2190, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act, which is backed
by Oceana and was originally authored by then-Senator Obama.
W.Va Sues PPG at Company's Request
To avoid defending itself in a lawsuit by Oceana and West Virginia Rivers Coalition, PPG Industries, the largest emitter of mercury pollution to West Virginia's waterways, has convinced the state Department of Environmental Protection to sue the company, The Charleston Gazette
Episode Features Mercury-free Plant
Via a reporter for the Augusta Chronicle, we found out that this Thursday's episode of the Discovery Channel's show HowStuffWorks will feature a modern, mercury-free chlorine factory owned by Olin Corp., one of our campaign targets.
Exposed: Top Mercury Polluter and the EPA
For members of our Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination, the front page of today's Philadelphia Inquirer held a familiar image -- the smokestacks of Olin Corporation's Charleston,TN chlorine plant. Part three of a four-part investigative series called "Smoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA" focuses on the Olin plant's participation in EPA's Performance Track program despite its rank as the number one mercury polluter in Tennessee.
Go Mercury-Free or Go Bust
Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination released a new research paper today, No Excuses: Communities at Risk Without Mercury-Free Technology, that finds that the last four mercury-based chlorine factories (the "Foul Four") are likely to shut down operations in the coming years if they do not convert to a mercury-free process, costing a total of hundreds of jobs in their local communities. Updating their facilities to mercury-free technology, on the other hand, would mean making an investment to stay in their local communities for the next 30-40 years.
Ask Grocers to Post Mercury Warning Signs
By now you've probably heard the recent flurry of news stories about mercury contamination levels in tuna sushi and other fish. In the last month, Oceana and three other organizations, including the New York Times, have released the results of different tests showing that mercury levels in sushi and other seafood can be extremely high.
In the wake of these new results, fishing industry groups are urging people to eat more fish in spite of the risks of eating mercury-contaminated seafood.
Help us convince the grocery industry's group to inform shoppers about mercury in fish!
A number of grocery stores, including Kroger, Safeway, and Whole Foods, have joined Oceana's Seafood Contamination Campaign's "Green List" by posting signs about mercury in fish at their seafood counters.
Many more should-be converts remain, so we're asking the grocery industry's trade group, the Food Marketing Institute, to help make mercury signs at seafood counters an industry standard.
The FDA has issued advice for women of child-bearing age and children to avoid or limit their consumption of certain types of fish because research shows high exposure to mercury can interfere with a child's language and coordination development and attention span among other things.
Unfortunately, this information isn't reaching all consumers, as studies have shown that as many as 30 percent of women planning to be or already pregnant do not know mercury in fish could harm their child's development.
Please encourage the FMI to distribute mercury warning signs to grocery stores!
Beat the Blue Fin Tuna Blues
To help consumers make informed seafood choices, Oceana launched its Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination in 2005 and asked all the major grocery chains nationwide to post the EPA and FDA mercury advice at the point of sale.
Since then, five major companies, including roughly 3,000 grocery stores, representing about 14 percent of the nation's grocery market, have voluntarily agreed to post this information.
Companies that are actively helping consumers protect their health include Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Safeway, Trader Joe's and some Albertsons stores. Oceana is urging the other national grocery chains, including Costco, Giant Food, Publix, A&P and Giant Eagle to join them.
Oceana recommends that:
- All grocery stores that sell fish and sushi should post the FDA advice on signs at the point of sale.
- The FDA should require warning signs to be posted where fish covered by U.S. government advisories are sold, including at grocery store seafood counters.
- The FDA should consider including fresh tuna (including steaks and sushi) on its "Do Not Eat" list.
- The FDA should increase the frequency of its testing of commonly consumed fish, especially fresh tuna of all species commonly consumed.
