Mercury

One form of mercury, methyl mercury, is very toxic to humans. Mercury is not execrated, but builds up in cells and tissues of the body and over time, can get to poisonous levels, well over the recommended guidelines. In fact, eight percent of women in the United States have mercury levels above that level.

The main sources of contamination into the environment are: Coal combustion, refining metals such as gold and gasses from volcanic eruptions that settle in ponds, streams, rivers and oceans. Water is the key element in environmental pollutions of mercury that accumulates in the sedimentation on bottoms. Fish, shellfish and the birds and mammals that feed on fish are becoming contaminated with mercury levels and passing it along to humans who eat fish, shellfish and game. Mercury becomes even more concentrated as it passes along the food chain by a process called “bio magnification.”

The South River, a tributary of the Shenandoah River in Virginia, is one of 3000 bodies of water in the United States, that are on “fish consumption alert” due to mercury levels. Scientists and environmentalists have always been under the assumption that only the fish, and game that eat the fish, are affected, but recent studies have revealed high mercury levels in the song birds of that area. Further testing and observation of what these song birds were eating has found that the spiders they fed to their baby birds were the culprit, opening up a whole new area of study. Where are spiders obtaining their mercury? This new finding will give more cause for alarm, as bird droppings can get into the soil, which grows the food that humans eat.

Research is ongoing for ways to combat the amounts of mercury in water sources, which would relieve much of the dangers. If Methyl mercury reaches high levels in the cells and tissues of humans, it can cause kidney dysfunction, neurological problems, affect fetuses and/or could cause death.