By: Almeta Cooper, National Manager for Health Justice, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: July 10, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2018–0794
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Introduction:
My name is Almeta Cooper. I am the National Manager for Health Justice at Moms Clean Air Force and I live in Washington, D.C. Moms Clean Air Force consists of 1 ½ Million moms, dads and caregivers united in protecting clean air and children’s health.
Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for more than a decade to cut toxic mercury pollution because there is no amount of mercury that is safe for a child's brain. Therefore, I am urging the EPA to preserve the current, strengthened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards because these standards safeguard the health of children and families.
Specific reason for testifying:
I care deeply that mercury pollution affects human health. The US Food and Drug Administration has determined that during times of active brain development exposure to high levels of methylmercury, the most abundant form of mercury, can lead to neurological effects such as decreased measures of intelligence, difficulty in memory and cognition, and problems with gross and fine motor skills. Fetuses, infants, and children are particularly vulnerable to the potential harmful effects from methylmercury exposure because of their smaller body sizes and rapid growth and metabolism.
Further, as an African American mom, I am concerned that mercury pollution is also a health issue that particularly threatens African American communities.
African American communities are disproportionately burdened by multiple health effects of mercury pollution.
- Elevated doses and other sources of toxic mercury have been associated with African American children in some communities and especially among black women more than others at levels surpassing normal thresholds.
- African Americans are more likely to suffer health effects from air pollution through mercury and part of the reason has much to do with our where we live and land use planning. Because African Americans are more likely to live near power plants and waste sites, this proximity to these sites increases the likelihood of exposure and health risks.
- People who eat fish more frequently, like recreational or subsistence fishers, are at higher risk for experiencing health impacts from mercury. Communities where fishing holds important cultural significance, such as some Indigenous communities, may also be especially impacted.
- Given that African Americans are more likely to reside near toxic industrial sites and consume more fish than Caucasians, we are more vulnerable to elevated forms of mercury exposure.
SOURCE: C. Merem, J. Wesley, P. Isokpehi, E. Nwagboso, S. Fageir, S. Nichols, M. Crisler, M. Shenge, C. Romorno, G. Hirse, The Growing Issue of Mercury Exposure and the Threats in the African American Community, Frontiers in Science, Vol. 6 No. 1, 2016, pp. 1-16. doi: 10.5923/j.fs.20160601.01.
Conclusion:
In closing, as a parent I strongly urge the EPA to preserve the strongest possible Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, keeping all of the updates from the rule that was strengthened last year.
Thank you to the EPA for the opportunity to provide these comments.