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More Mercury?

SCIENTISTS ONCE THOUGHT THAT MERCURY POLLUTION WAS ONLY AFFECTING FISH AND THEIR PREDATORS, BUT A NEW STUDY ON SONGBIRDS HAS THEM SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE. HEAR MORE ON TODAY’S ENVIRONMINUTE.

WHILE LOW LEVELS OF MERCURY ARE FOUND NATURALLY, COAL-BURNING POWER PLANTS AND CHEMICAL FACILITIES HAVE RELEASED EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. NOW RESEARCH IS SHOWING JUST HOW FAR THE POLLUTION HAS SPREAD.   

A BIOLOGIST IN NEW YORK STATE RECENTLY FOUND HIGH LEVELS OF MERCURY IN THE BLOOD OF EVERY WILD SONGBIRD HE TESTED. IT WAS A SURPRISING DISCOVERY: SCIENTISTS KNEW ABOUT MERCURY CONTAMINATION IN LAKES AND STREAMS, BUT NOT WOODLANDS. AND BECAUSE SONGBIRDS NEVER EAT FISH, THE USUAL ROUTE OF EXPOSURE, NO ONE REALIZED THEY WERE AFFECTED.     

NOW BIOLOGISTS ARE CLOSELY STUDYING HOW THIS TOXIC ELEMENT FINDS ITS WAY INTO THE FOOD CHAIN. BECAUSE MERCURY ACCUMULATES AS IT PASSES FROM SMALLER SPECIES TO LARGER ONES, THE ANSWER COULD REVEAL A HUMAN HEALTH HAZARD.

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Read more in the New York Times.

For more information on the dangers of mercury, go to the EPA website. 

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