110 HR 2813 IH: To address the risks of exposure of children to mercury
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-06-21
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EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Children’s Mercury Exposure Act of 2007
.
2.The Congress finds as follows:
(1)Mercury is a highly volatile, naturally
occurring element that does not break down in the environment.
(2)Mercury is a
potent neurotoxin that can affect the nervous system, lungs, brain, and
kidneys.
(3)Potential sources
of human exposure to mercury include breathing mercury vapor from spills or a
contaminated workplace, absorbing mercury through direct contact or dental
work, or eating fish or shellfish contaminated with methylmercury.
(4)Children can be
exposed to mercury by many of the same pathways as adults.
(5)Children are not
small adults. A child’s exposure may differ from an adult’s exposure in many
ways. Children drink more fluids, eat more food, breathe more air per kilogram
of body weight, and have a larger skin surface in proportion to their body
volume.
(6)A
child’s behaviors and lifestyle also influence exposure. Unlike adults,
children crawl on the floor; they put things in their mouths; they may ingest
inappropriate things such as dirt or paint chips; they spend more time
outdoors. Children also are closer to the ground, and they do not have the
judgment of adults in avoiding hazards.
(7)Forms of mercury
are used in manufacturing processes, such as the production of chlorine gas,
and may also be an added ingredient in products such as thermometers,
fluorescent lights, cosmetics, and dental fillings.
(8)Due to these uses,
mercury is present at a number of contaminated industrial sites in the United
States.
(9)Children’s unique
behaviors, such as soil ingestion from normal hand-to-mouth contact, puts them
at particular risk of exposure from these mercury-contaminated industrial
sites.
(10)The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry has determined that the risk of children’s exposure to mercury from
mercury-contaminated industrial sites has emerged as an important public health
issue.
3.Exposure of
children to mercury from mercury-contaminated industrial sites
(a)The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(in this Act referred to as the Secretary
), acting through the
Director of the National Institutes of Health and in consultation with the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall establish a program
for the conduct or support of research regarding the risks posed by all levels
of exposure of children to mercury from mercury-contaminated industrial
sites.
(b)
(1)Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, shall conduct a study and submit a report to the
Congress on the prevalence of the exposure of children to mercury from
mercury-contaminated industrial sites.
(2)The
Secretary shall conduct the study under this subsection in consultation with
the Governor, and with appropriate State agencies, of each State.
(c)
(1)The
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, may make grants on a competitive basis to State departments of
health to conduct initial and long-term testing of children exposed to mercury
from mercury-contaminated industrial sites.
(2)Authorization of
appropriationsFor the
purpose of carrying out this subsection, there are authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary
for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2013
(d)In
this section:
(1)The term
Governor means the chief executive officer of a State.
(2)The term
State includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession
of the United States.