It’s well-documented that mercury impairs our brain function. But this is the first time that scientists have calculated what financial impact it has on the individual when a person’s brain function – in terms of a lower IQ, and thus also a poorer education and a lower income – is impaired as a result of mercury pollution.
“Our calculations show that every year a couple of hundred thousand children in the EU are born with mercury levels that exceed the maximum limit. That’s a total loss of 700,000 IQ points, and it adds up to a reduction of €9 billion in lifetime earnings for all the children who are born each year in the EU,” says Professor Philippe Grandjean, of Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Southern Denmark, who had the overall responsibility for the research project, together with French economists.
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