mercury news stories on Newser

Mercury Spill Shuts Down Ohio Daycare

John Johnson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:12:05 CDT

All ended well, but a show-and-tell presentation on mercury turned out to be way more informative than planned for 30 preschoolers. A worker at a Toledo daycare brought in a vintage blood-pressure monitor with mercury inside to show the kids, explains the Toledo Blade . It got left on the floor,...

3 More Judges See No Link Between Autism and Vaccines

Will McCahill — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:51:58 CST

Three separate judges ruled today that vaccines containing mercury don’t lead to autism in children, with one saying that “normal fish-eating diet by pregnant mothers” presents more risk than the shots. The rulings are part of a series of nine test cases brought by 5,000 families seeking to tap...

Fishy Tale Gets Piven Off the Hook

M. Morris — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:48:01 CDT

Jeremy Piven was on the level when he blamed mercury poisoning for his decision to bail on a Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow last December, an arbitrator has ruled. "While we respect the decision, we strongly disagree with it," the producers of the David Mamet play said in a statement. Said...

Test Finds Mercury in Every Fish

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:04:59 CDT

Catch a fish in one of America's streams, and there's a good chance it will have at least trace amounts of mercury. The most comprehensive survey to date from the US Geological Survey tested more than 1,000 fish from nearly 300 streams around the nation—and found mercury in...

Maine Law Targets CFL Mercury

Rob Quinn — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:09:10 CDT

Maine has become the first state in the nation to tackle the problem of mercury in low-energy light bulbs, the Boston Globe reports. A new state law requires manufacturers to reduce the amount of the toxic metal in the bulbs and pay for the cost of safe recycling, a measure...

Utilities Poison Water to Meet EPA Air Regs

Harry Kimball — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:14:00 CDT

A federal law that keeps utilities from poisoning the air is causing toxic metals to infiltrate US waterways, the Washington Post reports. As the Environmental Protection Agency debates possible solutions with lawmakers, utility companies are storing pollutants like mercury and selenium in sludge ponds that eventually leak into lakes and...

Piven Avoids Penalty for Broadway Absence

John Johnson — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:54:59 CST

Jeremy Piven has escaped punishment—at least for now—for bailing on the Broadway play Speed-the-Plow , reports Playbill . Piven insists he had to leave because of mercury poisoning, but the producers aren't buying it. The actor appeared before representatives of the Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League at a...

Mercury Found in Corn Syrup

Rob Quinn — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:11:47 CST

A test of some of America's most popular processed foods has turned up trace amounts of mercury, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Researchers believe that the mercury, found in levels far lower than in seafood, comes from plants that use caustic soda laced with mercury to produce high-fructose corn syrup, widely...

Sundance Stunner Sheds Light on Dolphin Slaughter

Sarah Quinn — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:41:02 CST

Planning a trip to Sea World? You might want to go before you see The Cove —because you sure won’t want to after. The documentary, made by a National Geographic photographer and Flipper’s former trainer, takes viewers inside a secret cove in Japan, Andrew O’Hehir, from Sundance, writes in Salon....