Contamination of ocean fish such as tuna, with toxic mercury from coal-fired power plants, has received wide publicity in recent months. But now a new report by the U.S. Public Research Group Education Fund (PIRG) shows that fish in America's lakes, rivers, and streams are also contaminated with mercury, putting at risk sport and subsistence fishermen and their families.
Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that can cause learning disabilities, developmental delays, and problems with fine motor coordination. Mercury can also affect multiple organ systems, including the heart, immune system, and the nervous system over a lifetime.
PIRG analyzed data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which between 1999 and 2001 tested fish for toxic mercury in a representative sample of 260 lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. EPA's testing revealed that every fish sample taken was contaminated with mercury, and most of the samples were contained at levels that could pose a risk to public health. [1]
Fifty-five percent of the fish samples were contaminated at levels exceeding EPA's "safe" limit for women of average weight who eat fish twice a week. Seventy-six percent of the samples exceeded the safe limit for children under three who eat fish twice a week.
Most heavily contaminated were predator fish like bass, walleye, lake trout, and Northern pike, with 80 percent of predator fish samples exceeding EPA's safe limit for women. In 18 states, 100 percent of the predator samples exceeded this limit. [2]
President Bush's plan to reduce toxic mercury emissions from power plants would utterly fail to protect public health for the next 20 years. Unveiled in January, the President's proposal would put off even modest reductions until 2025, even though the Clean Air Act calls for maximum possible reductions by 2008. [3]
In the 2000 Presidential election, the nation's electric utilities raised $447,000 in PAC and individual campaign contributions for George W. Bush, compared to $65,000 for Democratic candidate Al Gore. In fact, President Bush raised more money from electric utilities in two years than any other candidate for federal office raised cumulatively over the past 10 years. [4]
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SOURCES:
[1] "Reel Danger: Power Plant Mercury Pollution and the Fish We Eat," U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Center for Responsive Politics press release.
