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New US study shows mercury widespread in fish
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 19 - 08 - 2009

A federal study of mercury contamination released today found the toxic substance in every fish
tested at nearly 300 streams across the United States,
underscoring how widespread mercury pollution has become, AP reported.
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 from 291 streams nationwide.
While all fish had traces of mercury contamination, only
about a quarter had levels exceeding what the Environmental
Protection Agency considers safe for people eating average
amounts of fish.
«This science sends a clear message that our country must
continue to confront pollution, restore our nation's
waterways, and protect the public from potential health
dangers,» Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a
statement.
Mercury can damage the nervous system and cause learning
disabilities in developing fetuses and young children. 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 rains
down into waterways, where natural processes convert it
into methylmercury, a form that allows the toxin to wind
its way up the food chain into fish.
Some of the highest levels in fish were detected in the
remote blackwater streams along the coasts of North and
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, where
surrounding forests and wetlands help in the conversion.
Mercury also was detected in high concentrations in
Western streams that drain areas mined for mercury and
gold. At about 59 of the streams, mostly in the West,
mining could be contributing to the mercury levels, the
researchers said.
«Some ecosystems are more sensitive than others,» said
Barbara Scudder, the lead USGS scientist on the study.
All but two states, Alaska and Wyoming, have issued
fish-consumption advisories because of mercury
contamination. Some of the streams studied already had
warnings.
The EPA, which regulates air pollution, proposed a new
regulation this year to clamp down on mercury emissions
from cement plants.


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