The possible problems posed by mercury to student health and the environment have become the focus of two student organizations.

The Sierra Club and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority helped students find out the amount of mercury in their bodies by taking samples of volunteer’s hair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at a booth on the South Oval.

At noon they had received around 15 samples, Alpha Kappa Alpha president Jessica Walker said.

The hair will be sent to the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service, and within four weeks the results will be sent to the participants’ home addresses.

Mercury is excreted through hair, so a hair sample shows the amount of mercury that has been in a person’s body over a few months, according to a press release issued by the Sierra Club.

The Sierra Club organized this event to promote the increase of stronger Environmental Protection Agency standards to limit toxic air pollutants from coal power plants, which would reduce mercury levels in the air and in human bodies, Sierra Club field organizer Whitney Pearson said.

“What we are trying to do is bring awareness to the dangers of mercury and what we can do to reduce the levels in the air and in our own bodies,” Pearson said.

The sorority is sponsoring the project to promote the health initiative of their organization, which covers asthma and environmental sustainability, corresponding secretary Danielle Dary said.

Women of child-bearing age, children and pregnant women are at greatest risk from mercury exposure, especially if they consume large amounts of fish and seafood, Pearson said.

Exposure to mercury can contribute to severe birth defects, including disabilities, delayed onset of walking and talking, and cerebral palsy. Toxic mercury can also cause cancer, Pearson said.

“The reason we are testing people our age is in the future, we might have children, and we need to make people aware to test their mercury levels and make sure they aren’t too high so that we don’t pass it on to our children,” Pearson said.

At least 1 in 12 and as many as 1 in 6 American women of child-bearing age has mercury levels in her blood high enough to put her baby at risk, according to the press release.

Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury, Pearson said. Toxic mercury goes up into the air and then it rains down into our waters and contaminates the fish, she said.

“The Environmental Protection Agency can help clean up our air and water and protect our kids’ health by enacting protection for life-threatening mercury and other air pollution,” Pearson said.

Similar events are taking place in more than 20 cities across the nation in March, according to the press release.

Click here for more information regarding mercury poisoning.