DEARBORN  —  According to the Sierra Club, the
nation’s largest environmental grassroots organizations, one in seven Dearborn
residents tested positive for levels of mercury higher than what is considered
safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mercury enters the environment, builds up and gets
increasingly toxic over time. It is a potent neurotoxin that’s especially
dangerous to small children and pregnant women; mercury exposure affects a
child’s ability to walk, talk, read, write and learn, although it can be
detoxified from a person’s system with the right treatments and supplements.

All 21 people tested by the organization had some detectable
amounts of it in their system. Dearborn was one of 30 cities to be tested
across the U.S. in March and April.

The large coal-fired Monroe power plant along with eating
fish and seafood are believed to be sources of the contamination.

The EPA proposed new air quality rules according to the
Sierra Club’s website to limit emissions including mercury and other toxic
substances. The group says the rules can save 17,000 lives and prevent 120,000
cases of asthma in children according to its website. Visit
www.sierraclub.org/mercury for more info or to help.