Obama has this one right!

Over 6,000 tons of mercury comes into our environment each year. More than 50% of this comes from coal emission where it settles into the oceans and enters the food chain by being accumulated in fish and ocean plants. Dental fillings and vaccine mercury are other sources of mercury contamination in humans. In children mercury causes birth defects, brain damage and may lead to cancer.

Daniel Reifsnyder, the deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and sustainable development, told a global gathering of environmental ministers in Nairobi , Kenya , on Monday that the United States supports limiting mercury contamination into the environment.

“We’re prepared to help lead in developing a globally legally binding instrument,” he said. “It is clear mercury is the most important global chemical issue facing us today that calls for immediate action.”

The statement represented a “180-degree turnaround” from policy under the Bush administration, said Michael Bender, co-coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group, a global coalition of 75 environmental organizations working to reduce mercury exposure.

“The change is like night and day. The Bush administration opposed any international legal agreements on mercury and President (Barack) Obama is in office less than one month and is already supporting a global agreement,” he said.

With all of this mercury in the environment, could it be affecting you? Such symptoms as fatigue, poor digestion, memory loss, joint pain, auto immune illness and heart disease may be the result of mercury poisoning.