Posted on August 20 2009
The surprising finding in the news out last night from the U.S. Geological Survey is not that mercury can be found in almost any fish, in any water, in the U.S., but that the highest levels of mercury were found in fish from tea-colored waters in undeveloped areas of the southeast. “Some of the highest levels in fish were detected in the remote blackwater streams along the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, where bacteria in surrounding forests and wetlands help in the conversion.” One quarter of all fish in the U.S. are unsafe to eat on a regular basis.
Almost all (84%) of mercury pollution comes from coal-fired power plants.