Tali Catz
student
- May 4, 2009 • 6:56 pm PDT
- + responses
The rate of mercury contamination in tuna and other Pacific fish has
increased 30% since about 1990, and is expected to increase another 50%
if China continues to build more coal-fired power plants to fuel its
industrial revolution.
The data comes from a new federal study by the U.S. Geologic Survey that was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
Mercury levels in the Northern Pacific have already increased a
staggering 30% in about 15 years, and are expected to rise another 50%
by 2050. This stunning increase is a direct result of China's rapid
industrialization, which has included the construction of as many as
one new coal-fired power plant a week, by some estimates.
About 40% of all U.S. exposure to mercury comes from eating
contaminated tuna from the Pacific, and roughly 75% of all human
exposure to mercury comes from eating fish, according to U.S.
officials.
Mercury poisoning, even very small amounts, early in life
can lead to permanent developmental effects. That's why the government
has warned since 2004 that women who are pregnant, and young children,
should not eat many species of fish.
That's why the Environmental Protection Agency has been fighting to retain those strong public cautions against efforts by the fishing
industry and the Food and Drug Administration to weaken or confuse them.
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