Nearly everyone has heard the term "mad as a hatter" but few know its origin. First a few facts about mercury poisoning: Exposure to mercury affects the nervous system. The symptoms of mercury poisoning are extensive running the gambit from death to headaches. Anti-social behavior of aggressiveness and mood swings are also associated with mercury in the blood stream.

Now back to our mad hatters: In the USA, until 1941, when the United States Public Health Service banned its use in the processing of felt, mercury was used in the making of hats. Consequently, the continued inhaling of mercury vapors caused mercury poisoning in the hatters' blood, altered their behavior, and to the onlookers of those days, the hat makers appeared insane -- thus "mad as a hatter".

In our modern age, while we may think we are safe due to the 1941 law and other laws put through by the federal government, nearly every GOP presidential candidate has vowed to eliminate the EPA -- which must mean they propose to have the states and local governments ensure the public's safety instead. Consequently, all laws currently in effect nationally would fall to each state's decision to enforce them or not.

The Good News: Cutting Mercury & Protecting America’s Children

EPA (Lisa P. Jackson EPA Administrator)

Last week, we finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS, a rule that will protect millions of families and, especially, children from air pollution. Before this rule, there were no national standards that limited the amount of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases power plants across the country could release into the air we breathe. Mercury is a neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to children, and emissions of mercury and other air toxics have been linked to damage to developing nervous systems, respiratory illnesses and other diseases. MATS will require power plants to install emissions controls that will also reduce particle pollution, which has been linked to premature death and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

As a result, MATS will provide between $37 billion and $90 billion in health benefits for the American people. Once the rule is fully implemented in 2016, it will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 cases of aggravated asthma among children between six and 18 years old.

That last point is especially significant to me as a mother. I understand the importance of MATS in very profound ways, because both of my sons have struggled with asthma. Fifteen years ago, my youngest son spent his first Christmas in the hospital fighting to breathe. Like any parent of a child with asthma, I can tell you that the benefits of clean air protections like MATS are not just statistics and abstract concepts.

What we’re really talking about with all those numbers above are pregnant mothers who can rest a little easier knowing their children won’t be exposed to harmful levels of mercury in critical development stages. We are talking about reducing the levels of mercury in the fish that we and our kids eat every day. We are talking about future generations growing up healthier because there is less toxic pollution in the air they breathe.

Read the complete article here

EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards