Over the years, parents have become more aware of the dangers in their ownhomes. So they keep kids away from things like pesticides, electricalcords, and plastic bags. Still, most people remain unaware of another threatfrom a common household item. Ironically, it may be the first thing youreach for when your child is sick. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s WendyNelson reports:
Tag: mercury
Debate Over Fish Consumption
Late last month (June), the New York State Department of Health said it
was safe for anglers to eat fish from Onondaga Lake–one of the
country’s most polluted lakes. But now some officials are raising
concerns. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Amy Cavalier reports:
Mercury Levels Spur Fish Advisories
Officials in three Great Lakes states are warning anglers that any fish
caught in their streams, rivers or lakes could have high levels of mercury .
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Scheck reports:
CUT: SCHECK (1:03 "…I’M TOM SCHECK.")
Study on Great Lakes Cooperation
A report released this week (5/10/99) by sporting and conservation
groups in the upper Midwest calls for regional cooperation in dealing
with mercury contamination in fish. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Nick Van Der Puy reports:
Mercury Consumption Levels Raised
A U-S agency says it’s safe to ingest higher levels of mercury. Some
environmental groups say the agency is making a mistake. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Voluntary Effort Targets Mercury Emissions
Minnesota is setting a goal to reduce mercury emissions 70-percent by 2005.
An advisory group of industry representatives, environmentalists, and
government agencies came up with the plan. As the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports, it’s all supposed to happen through
voluntary efforts:
A New Use for Old Tires
Each year in the United States alone, an estimated
two-hundred-fifty-million tires are scrapped. While some enterprising
companies have found ways to recycle them, up to eighty-percent of waste
tires still end up stockpiled or thrown away in landfills. But now some
researchers think they may have found a way to help control air
pollution with a substance made from old tires. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
Trees Used to Clean Up Toxins
Researchers are finding ways to use plants to clean up contaminated
sites. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on a
project to use genetically altered trees to pull certain kinds of
pollution from the ground:
Sea Lamprey Soufflé?
A recent discovery has put the brakes on a plan to market Great Lakes sea lamprey to Europeans as a gourmet food. Scientists have found high levels of mercury in the lamprey, making it unfit to eat. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson has the story:
Mercury Emissions Hit the ‘Net’
The U-S Environmental Protection Agency will soon require some coal-burning power plants to report how much mercury their smokestacks are emitting. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports that the E-P-A will post the information on the Internet: