Mercury in the Food Chain
I was cleaning out my bookmarks file when I ran across this video. Put on by Blue Ocean Institute, it gives a great overview of how mercury gets into the food chain.
The Video
Mercury is produced by power plants, incinerators and chlorine manufacturers. It goes into the atmosphere where it mixes with rain and snow and falls to earth. From there it gets into the waterways. Bacteria in lakes and oceans absorb mercury and convert it to a more toxic methylmercury. From here the mercury travels up the food chain, settling in the tissues of large fish, fish that we eat.
Why This Is Important
Mercury poisoning can cause severe problems in humans. Pregnant women are instructed to eat limited amounts of fish, and people have been poisoned by eating tuna fish too often. Mercury poisoning can affect other birds and animals too.
What Can I Do?
The first way to help the problem is to cut back your own energy usage. The less energy we use, the less demand for coal-fired power. The second way to help is to support alternative energy development such as wind and solar. Some power companies are now offering ways for you to buy blocks of alternative power. As the demand increases, they focus more on producing renewable power. Lastly, oppose any deregulation of mercury, and any new coal-fired power plants.
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