Haley Murray
Daily Egyptian
The Illinois Department of Public Health has labeled five area lakes as
having dangerously high levels of mercury pollution, and the Sierra
Club wants to make the harmful effects known.
The Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club is working with Hair Brains hair salon to offer free mercury testing Aug. 9.
The salon, located at 127 N. Washington St. in Carbondale, will have
stylist volunteers clip a small amount of hair and send it to the
Environmental Research Institute at North Carolina University, said
Barb McKasson, chair of the Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club.
"They'll be cutting small samples from a few places on the head, about
half a gram," she said. "Each individual will get results in about
three weeks."
Individuals who find they have high levels of mercury will receive instructions on how they can rid their bodies of the mercury.
"Its about a 50 day process," said Jo Ann Nelson, Sierra Club
secretary. "It is possible to reduce levels through diet and things
like that."
The group is working with the North Carolina University research center
to see if there is a correlation between mercury levels and eating fish
from contaminated lakes. Along with the hair samples, participants will
fill out and send a survey.
"We want to find out what affect this is having on fetuses and children
especially," McKasson said. "This is a mercury hot spot."
Mercury is a highly toxic chemical that can affect the central nervous
system, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. If
ingested, mercury can cause serious brain damage, including delayed
development and cognitive deficits, language difficulties, and problems
with motor function, attention, and memory. Children can be exposed to
mercury in the womb or through breast milk if their mothers ingest
mercury-tainted fish or by eating contaminated fish themselves.
Once mercury falls into surface water, bacteria in the water causes
chemical changes that transform mercury into methylmercury, which is
ingested by fish as they feed on aquatic organisms, according to the
Illinois Department of Public Health.
"Once it's converted to methylmercury, it becomes more toxic," McKasson
said. "It's concentrated many more times than elemental mercury."
In February, the Illinois Department of Public Health put out
consumption advisories for fish caught in all Illinois lakes and
rivers. About a dozen lakes have high levels, and five are located in
the immediate area.
"Kinkaid and Cedar Lake, Devil's Kitchen, Campus Lake at SIUC and the
Ohio River all have dangerously high levels of mercury," McKasson said.
The advisories are based primarily on protecting sensitive
populations, such as women of childbearing age, pregnant women, nursing
mothers and children under 15 years old.
One in six women already has enough mercury in her body to put a fetus
at risk of learning disabilities and developmental problems, according
to the Sierra Club Web site. Eating fish caught from contaminated lakes
can increase the levels.
Coal-powered plants, responsible for 41 percent of mercury emitted in
the United States, put mercury into the air, which then rains down into
rivers, streams and lakes, making its way into the human body via
contaminated fish.
Tammy Leonard, Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman, said
although mercury is present in the water, it is not high enough to be a
hazard.
"It won't hurt you to swim or drink the water," she said. "It's the organic form in the settlement in fish that is toxic."
McKasson said she hopes the results of the study will lead the Bush
administration to change the way it has been handling mercury emission.
"It's easier to control mercury from the source than it is to clean it up after the mess has been made," she said.
Haley Murray can be reached at
haley_murray@dailyegyptian.com
