Air Pollution and Intoxicants Jessie Sanders COMM/215 March 13, 2013 Daria Woodside Studies show that one in ten women of child bearing age has enough Mercury in her bloodstream to put her child at health effects should she become pregnant(Learn, 2011). That puts 689,000 out of the 4.1 million babies born every year being exposed to dangerous levels of mercury ("Toxic Chemicals Threaten Our Health", n.d.). Children exposed to even low-dosage levels of mercury in the womb can have impaired brain functions, including verbal, attention, motor-control and language deficits as well as lower IQs. Coal-fired power plants spew hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic mercury into the air every year, which falls to earth in the form of rain and contaminates rivers, lakes, and streams ("Toxic Chemicals Threaten Our Health", n.d.). The clean air act will help prevent deaths and help save money. There have been no standards on power plants until the Clean Air Act ("Mercury And Air Toxics Standards In Oregon", n,d.). The coal-fired power plants spewed hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic mercury into the air every year. The mercury contaminates rivers, lakes, and streams. Wildlife that’s exposed to mercury may develop slowly, have reduced fertility or even die. Scientists found that a gram of mercury – about a drop – deposited in a mid-sized lake in Wisconsin over the course of a year was enough to account for the mercury subsequently found in that lake’s fish population. Children monitored at ages seven and 14, these impairments still exist – suggesting that the damage cause by mercury may be irreversible. Most air toxics originate from human-made sources, including mobile sources (e.g., cars, trucks, buses) and stationary