Thursday, November 12, 2009
Don't eat the fish
Posted by Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Make sure you know what you're putting in your mouth. (I'm talking fish, perverts.)
You may like lemon juice or tartar sauce on your fish. What you may not realize is that another condiment is added to every serving of fish you eat: Mercury.This year, the U.S. Geological Survey released a report showing mercury contamination in every sample of fish taken from 291 streams and rivers throughout the U.S.
Worse, North Carolina has the added distinction of being on the short list of states with the highest levels of contamination in the country. South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana round out the list.
A national listing of fish advisories, available online from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, underscores this reality. Small blue dots scattered throughout a map of the U.S. indicate areas where contamination levels exceed safe thresholds.
The eastern half of North Carolina is a solid mass of blue.
Read the rest of this Raleigh News and Observer article here.
Further reading:
- The Associated Press: EPA: Toxic chemicals in freshwater fish widespread
- The Charlotte Business Journal: EPA: Mercury in local fish
- The Sun Journal: Contamination in N.C. waters ‘a crisis,' lawyer and water advocate says
Some say the benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks, or at least that's what they were saying in 2007 when this was filmed:
Real-life stories about how mercury affects humans:
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