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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1939
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that
the public is provided adequate notice and education on the effects of
exposure to mercury through the development of health advisories and by
requiring that such appropriate advisories be posted, or made readily
available, at all businesses that sell fresh, frozen, and canned fish
and seafood where the potential for mercury exposure exists.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 24, 2003
Mr. Leahy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that
the public is provided adequate notice and education on the effects of
exposure to mercury through the development of health advisories and by
requiring that such appropriate advisories be posted, or made readily
available, at all businesses that sell fresh, frozen, and canned fish
and seafood where the potential for mercury exposure exists.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Mercury Health Advisory Act of
2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Mercury is a persistent, bioaccumulative heavy metal
that poses a significant risk to human health, wildlife, and
the environment.
(2) Mercury discharges into the atmosphere and surface
oceans have increased two-to-five fold since the beginning of
the industrialized period due to human activities.
(3) Substantial evidence is accumulating that exposure to
methyl-mercury is widespread in the general public and
occurring at higher than health-based levels of concern
according to the Food and Drug Administration, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Health
Organization. Fish and seafood caught or sold in the United
States are contaminated with methyl-mercury, a toxic element
that may cause neurological damage and other health-related
problems as a result of fish or seafood consumption.
(4) According to the 1997 Environmental Protection Agency
Mercury Report to Congress, mercury levels in the following
fish, at least occasionally, exceeded the Food and Drug
Administration's ``action level'' limit of 1 part per million:
tilefish, king mackerel, shark, swordfish, tuna, lobster, red
snapper, saltwater and freshwater bass, bluefish, bluegills,
catfish, crappie, groupers, hake, halibut, northern pike,
walleye, largemouth bass, pompano, snook, sunfish, and other
finfish.
(5) The Food and Drug Administration advises pregnant women
and women of childbearing age not to eat shark, king mackerel,
tilefish, and swordfish and to limit consumption of all other
fish to 12 ounces per week. The Food and Drug Administration
advises other persons to limit their consumption of shark and
swordfish to no more than 7 ounces per week.
(6) The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that
women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant, nursing
mothers, and young children limit fish consumption to 6 meals
per week of cooked fish or an 8-ounce meal per week for
uncooked fish for adults and 2 meals per week of cooked fish or
a 3-ounce meal per week of uncooked fish for young children.
(7) In 2003, 44 States issued health advisories that warned
the public about consuming mercury-tainted fish, as compared to
27 States that issued such advisories in 1993.
(8) Eleven States warn pregnant women and young children to
limit consumption of canned tuna, the most consumed fish in the
United States, to 1 or 2 cans per week and some States warn
that the ``white'' albacore canned tuna has significantly
higher mercury levels than the ``light'' tuna, based upon Food
and Drug Administration testing.
(9) Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey Centers indicates that 7.8 percent of women of
childbearing age have blood mercury levels in their bodies
above what is considered safe for the developing fetus,
translating into over 300,000 babies born each year in the
United States at risk of mercury poisoning.
(10) Between 30 percent and 50 percent of women of
childbearing age are not aware of the methyl-mercury exposure
risks from ingestion of mercury-contaminated fish, according to
the Food and Drug Administration.
(11) A January 2001 report by the United States General
Accounting Office (GAO) criticized the Food and Drug
Administration for not providing guidance to the fishing
industry to identify and prevent fish contaminated with mercury
from reaching consumers, even though the Agency's own
testing found that, for example, over half of the swordfish exceeded
its action level of one part per million (ppm).
(12) Evidence is continuing to emerge linking increased
risk of coronary heart disease to mercury exposure, as
presented in at least 2 peer reviewed studies.
(13) Health advisory information on mercury-contaminated
fish, which is necessary to protect public health, is not
widely known by the State or Federal Government. This lack of
awareness potentially threatens tens of millions of Americans
who may unknowingly ingest harmful amounts of mercury because
they are not aware of exposure risks from consumption of
freshwater fish and seafood.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) ensure that the public is adequately informed about the
potential adverse effects of mercury exposure through the
consumption of fish products;
(2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
work cooperatively with other Federal and State agencies, as
well as nonprofit organizations, to create appropriate
advisories for the distribution to the public of explanations
of the potential adverse effects of mercury exposure from fish
consumption;
(3) require the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency to work cooperatively with State fish and
game officials to create an informative guide for distribution
to the public about the dangers of the consumption of
recreationally-caught fish;
(4) require the Food and Drug Administration to resume its
seafood methyl-mercury monitoring program to better document
mercury levels in various fish species sold in commerce;
(5) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in
cooperation with private and public organizations, to design
and implement a National Public Education Program regarding the
presence of methyl-mercury in seafood and fish consumption
advisories for methyl-mercury; and
(6) require the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency to annually prepare a report on the impacts
of mercury on human health and the environment.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the
Commissioner of Food and Drugs.
(3) Health professional.--The term ``health professional''
means any licensed professional in the dental and medical
profession.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
SEC. 4. ADVISORY NOTICES.
(a) Consumer Mercury Advisory Notice.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator and the Commissioner
shall jointly develop fish consumption advisories for methyl-
mercury in fish. Such advisories shall be based on the
Environmental Protection Agency's Reference Dose for--
(A) the general population;
(B) sensitive populations; and
(C) populations consuming above average amounts of
fish.
(2) Consumer's notice.--The Secretary, in consultation with
the Administrator and the heads of State environmental agencies
and health departments, shall prepare a consumer's mercury
advisory notice. Such notice shall be distributed widely by the
Secretary, at no cost, to health professionals, particularly
medical offices that provide gynecological, obstetrical, or
pediatric care, and to the extent practicable shall be made
available and posted in the patient or client areas of all
maternal and child health and nutrition program offices, and
shall be made available to health care providers, Federal,
State, and local government agencies, and the general public
upon request.
(3) Criteria.--The advisories developed under this
subsection shall--
(A) explain, in an easily understandable manner,
the dangers of mercury exposure through the consumption
of mercury contaminated fish to women of childbearing
age, women who expect to become pregnant, women who are
pregnant or breast feeding their children, and young
children and their parents;
(B) describe, in an easily understandable manner,
in detail the most current mercury health advisories
prepared by the Federal Government concerning fish
consumption, contain the toll free number established
under paragraph (4), and contain such other information
as the Secretary determines appropriate; and
(C) be printed in large type in English, Spanish,
and other languages determined by the Secretary to be
culturally and linguistically appropriate.
(4) Toll-free telephone number.--The Secretary shall
establish a toll-free telephone number to enable individuals to
obtain additional information about the health advisories
developed under this subsection concerning exposure to mercury
from consumption of fish and seafood, as well as exposure from
other sources.
(5) Updating of information.--The information provided
under this subsection shall be updated periodically as
determined necessary by the Secretary.
(b) Mercury Warning Consumer's Guide.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator, in consultation with
the Secretary, shall prepare a consumer's guide to mercury and
health advisory for the consumption of recreationally-caught
fish. Such guide shall be distributed, at no cost, to--
(A) State departments of fisheries, wildlife, and
environmental law enforcement;
(B) all applicants for a fishing license at the
time the license is issued; and
(C) to public upon request.
(2) Criteria.--The guide developed under paragraph (1)
shall--
(A) be printed in large type in English, Spanish,
and other languages determined by the Secretary to be
culturally and linguistically appropriate;
(B) contain the toll free telephone number
established by the Environmental Protection Agency that
residents may call for further information about the
health advisories contained in the guide.
(3) Updating of information.--The guide developed under
paragraph (1) shall be updated periodically as determined
necessary by the Secretary.
(c) Consumption Advisory.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator, shall work with
the States and other appropriate entities to--
(A) develop and distribute regional and national
advisories concerning the presence of methyl-mercury in
seafood;
(B) develop standardized formats for written and
broadcast advisories regarding methyl-mercury in
seafood;
(C) develop and periodically upgrade information
related to mercury fish tissue test results and fish
consumption advisories for methyl-mercury;
(D) coordinate State and local advisories in the
formation of the National Public Education Program
under subsection (d)(1); and
(E) coordinate with that sector of the retail food
industry that is engaged in the sale of any fresh,
packaged, or frozen fish or seafood products intended
for human consumption, concerning the posting of such
advisories in their place of business where fish are
sold to inform women of childbearing age, pregnant, and
nursing women and the parents of young children on the
potential dangers of mercury that is present in certain
fish or seafood.
(2) Criteria.--The advisories and notices developed under
paragraph (1) shall include information both on limiting the
consumption of certain high level fish and seafood to the
general population and, for sensitive populations such as women
of childbearing age and children, stress the importance of
limiting consumption of frequently consumed fish that may
exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's Reference Dose.
(3) Consumption advisory.--
(A) In general.--Based on information compiled by
the Environmental Protection Agency, the National
Marine Fisheries Services, and the Food and Drug
Administration, shall work with State health, fish and
wildlife, and environmental agencies to develop and
periodically update a consumption advisory for any
fresh, packaged, or frozen fish or seafood products
intended for human consumption for posting by retail
food establishments and restaurants pursuant to this
Act. The advisory shall provide information about the
potential dangers from the ingestion of mercury from
the consumption of fish and seafood by women of
childbearing age, pregnant women, and young children
and other at-risk groups as determined by the
Department, including populations consuming above-
average quantities of fish and seafood.
(B) Distribution.--The Secretary shall make copies
of the advisory developed under subparagraph (A)
available to State boards of health or other State and
local governmental entities that have the same
authority as a State board of health for distribution
to the public and to local retail food establishments
and restaurants.
(4) Requirements.--The advisories and notices developed
under this subsection shall be printed in large type in
English, Spanish, and other languages determined by the
Secretary to be culturally and linguistically appropriate.
(d) Public Education and Advisory System.--
(1) Public education.--The Secretary, in consultation with
public and nonprofit private entities (including cooperative
extension services and appropriate State entities), shall
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