Mercury Found in Fish Throughout the U.S.

[sfc_oliver]

from 291 streams nationwide..

Theres that many streams just between here and Cleveland. And once again do the research 30 years ago there were no (ZERO) fish in our very own Mahoning river. We are doing just fine without more Government control that some people want us to have.

[Rick Rowlands]

What are the levels of mercury in fish going back 50 or 75 years?  Has this data been collected?

[irishbobcat]

Mercury Found in Fish Throughout the U.S.

By Dina Cappiello, AP, August 20, 2009. "No fish can escape mercury pollution. That's the take-home message from a federal study of mercury contamination released on August 19 that tested fish from nearly 300 streams across the country. The toxic substance was found in every fish sampled, a finding that underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become. But while all fish had traces of contamination, only about a quarter had mercury levels exceeding what the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for people eating average amounts of fish. The study by the U.S. Geological Survey is the most comprehensive look to date at mercury in the nation's streams. From 1998 to 2005, scientists collected and tested more than a thousand fish, including bass, trout and catfish, from 291 streams nationwide... The main source of mercury to most of the streams tested, according to the researchers, is emissions from coal-fired power plants. The mercury released from smokestacks here and abroad rains down into waterways, where natural processes convert it into methyl-mercury -- a form that allows the toxin to wind its way up the food chain into fish... All but two states -- Alaska and Wyoming -- have issued fish-consumption advisories because of mercury contamination. Some of the streams studied already had warnings."

Mercury in fish brought to you by Congressman Charlie Wilson and the coal lobbyists!

Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party
www.ohiogreens.org
www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen/