ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS White House calls for mercury workshop
T
he White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is calling a meeting of key scientists from government and academia next month in an effort to harmonize conflicting health advice from three U.S. federal agencies concerning methylmercury exposure due to fish consumption. But according to several scientists who plan to attend the meeting, it is unlikely the group will easily reach agreement. The meeting will focus on the results of three different epidemiological studies of children living in Iraq, the Seychelles Islands, and the Faeroe Islands, which form the database for government-issued health advisories. Toxicologists agree that childhood developmental milestones, such as sitting, crawling, and walking, are delayed in children exposed in utero to low levels of methylmercury, but there is controversy about whflt constitutes
