Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works A Legislative Hearing to Examine S. 1345, the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 2476, the Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021; and S. ___, the Public Health Air Quality Act

The document argues for the necessity of federally funded monitoring networks to track mercury in air, water, and wildlife, and to modernize air quality monitoring in the U.S. It highlights the health risks of methylmercury, the impact of global emissions and climate change on U.S. deposition, and the need for high-resolution air quality data in overburdened communities to address disparities in pollution exposure.

• The U.S. lacks a coordinated national long-term monitoring program for mercury in water or fish, despite fish consumption being the primary human exposure pathway. Existing mercury monitoring has been fragmented and funding-dependent, with the number of air quality and deposition sites decreasing by one-third or more since 2010.
• Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxicant with no known safe threshold; it causes lifelong IQ and motor function deficits in children and increases risks of cardiovascular disease, strokes, and fatal heart attacks in adults. In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 children are born annually with mercury exposures exceeding the EPA's Reference Dose.

APA

Fallon, K. (2022). Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works A Legislative Hearing to Examine S. 1345, the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 2476, the Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021; and S. ___, the Public Health Air Quality Act. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/13141943/kathy-fallon-epw-testimony.pdf

Chicago

Fallon, Kathy. Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works A Legislative Hearing to Examine S. 1345, the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 2476, the Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021; and S. ___, the Public Health Air Quality Act. Clean Air Task Force, 2022. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/13141943/kathy-fallon-epw-testimony.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Fallon |first1=Kathy |title=Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works A Legislative Hearing to Examine S. 1345, the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 2476, the Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021; and S. ___, the Public Health Air Quality Act |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=13 July 2022 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/13141943/kathy-fallon-epw-testimony.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fallon2022testimony, author = {Fallon, Kathy}, title = {{Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works A Legislative Hearing to Examine S. 1345, the Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 2476, the Environmental Justice Air Quality Monitoring Act of 2021; and S. \_\_\_, the Public Health Air Quality Act}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/13141943/kathy-fallon-epw-testimony.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }