Mercury Levels On The Rise
With so much concern about the levels of mercury in fish, one might think about just how much worse we are now than 100 years ago. Studies have been done to test mercury levels in fish; but without extensive annual or biannual testing on a specific region, we don't have enough information to exclusively say what fish species are worse and how much of a positive impact we have made thus far.
According to a research study done by Drevnick, Lamborg, and Horgan, on Pacific yellowfin Tuna caught near Hawaii, mercury levels are rising as much as 3.8% per year. If we had this type of test results available for multiple locations and for several fish types, more people could gain awareness for this issue and their health.
If we don't begin making a real positive impact on the levels of mercury, our health and the health of everyone after is in jeopardy. We have a foundation to start with: We have petitions and websites to voice our opinion and make chemical plants and power plants diminish their mercury output over time with regulations and filters. The more plants abide by these rules and install these filters the less mercury will be in the environment by human impact.
This will leave us with the second part of the problem: the mercury that is currently in the environment and fishes. Once we drastically decrease the levels of mercury that are output by chemical and power plants, we can focus our energy on what the best way to get mercury out of the environment might be. This gives the room to engineers and designers to come up with new filters or processes to safely eliminate the mercury from our water and fish supplies. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of world I would like to live in.
For the article regarding tests done on the Pacific yellowfin Tuna, click here.
Source:
Drevnick, P. E., Lamborg, C. H. and Horgan, M. J. (2015), Increase in mercury in Pacific yellowfin tuna. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. doi: 10.1002/etc.2883
According to a research study done by Drevnick, Lamborg, and Horgan, on Pacific yellowfin Tuna caught near Hawaii, mercury levels are rising as much as 3.8% per year. If we had this type of test results available for multiple locations and for several fish types, more people could gain awareness for this issue and their health.
If we don't begin making a real positive impact on the levels of mercury, our health and the health of everyone after is in jeopardy. We have a foundation to start with: We have petitions and websites to voice our opinion and make chemical plants and power plants diminish their mercury output over time with regulations and filters. The more plants abide by these rules and install these filters the less mercury will be in the environment by human impact.
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| Image courtesy of The Artisanal Gold Council |
This will leave us with the second part of the problem: the mercury that is currently in the environment and fishes. Once we drastically decrease the levels of mercury that are output by chemical and power plants, we can focus our energy on what the best way to get mercury out of the environment might be. This gives the room to engineers and designers to come up with new filters or processes to safely eliminate the mercury from our water and fish supplies. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of world I would like to live in.
For the article regarding tests done on the Pacific yellowfin Tuna, click here.
Source:
Drevnick, P. E., Lamborg, C. H. and Horgan, M. J. (2015), Increase in mercury in Pacific yellowfin tuna. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. doi: 10.1002/etc.2883
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