Heavy Metal: Why Mercury-Free Environments Are Important
Mercury exposure in humans primarily results from eating fish that contains methylmerucry. Mercury is primarily a neurotoxin, which means it attacks the central nervous system. Its effects are often subtle enough not to be recognized immediately, but more and more people are learning that their health problems could be due to mercury exposure.
~Oceana.org
I love seafood. More specifically, I love sushi. I mean really love it! This post isn’t about my adornment for sushi but to explore what health effects consuming the wrong amount of sushi can have on myself and other human beings, I have at least some reason to explore this further:
Sushi eater? [check]
Bad swimmer? [check]
Kids? [uncheck]
Plans for kids? [check]
After watching The Cove, my interest grew in learning more about where my food was coming from. The film highlights how many restaurants have been serving its customer’s dolphin meat which has extreme high levels of mercury; the numbers are quite revealing. The primary focus of the Cove’s producers is to tell the story of dolphin slaughter in a small, relatively unknown, Japanese island. The Cove took top honors at this year’s Academy Awards for Best Documentary.
Margie McClain, Georgia Field Organizer with Oceana, invited me to be a part of an event that would raise awareness around the issue of mercury pollution. My experience with oceans or marine biology is quite limited but as a sustainability advocate, this made perfect sense for me to get involved with. Mercury is something we have not discussed here at Aribra.com and found this to be a great time given what’s going on with House Bill H.R. 2190, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act. This bill would mandate the chlor-alkali industry to modernize their plants that emit mercury into the environment.
This Friday, I’m taking part in “Fill the Gills Pass the Bill: Mercury Free Pub Crawl”. I’m excited to be apart of the effort to raise awareness about a very important issue. What are your communities doing to promote better air and water quality?
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Yahya,
Thanks for bringing the mercury issue to this blog. I know people who've suffered from “fish fog” – where their memory & cognitive functioning declined as a result of eating too much contaminated tuna. It's really disturbing that our waters are so poisoned we cannot eat from them.
Another thing that's troubling is overfishing. If you're interested in that topic, you should check out the film The End of the Line. I haven't seen the whole film yet, but it looks extremely eye opening. A great resource for sustainable seafood awareness is the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwa…
(They have free restaurant reference cards as well as an iPhone app).
Enjoy your pub crawl!
Thanks Liz! I'm still learning about the issue myself but with the amount of sushi I eat, there is some concern that I could be at risk. How exactly is “fish fog” determined? Are there test?
Thanks for this great reflection on how grassroot causes are a big part of the sustainability web. When it comes to sustainability I think a word that also comes to mind is resilience. We are all apart of a complex web of people responding to their environments. In some cases, the response is less direct but when it comes to communicating effectively between business people, politicians, farmers, policy makers, students, scientists, etc. you have to be willing to take some risks to have some impact on your community. Awareness and education, that is what is so important when cultivating support for a cause and building a foundation of support. I think the passing of the Bill to go mercury free is a way to manage our resources better for the future and be more resilient for whatever may come. Its a different way of understanding sustainability. Resilience!
My pleasure Margie, resilience is a necessary component to progress. Looking forward to a great crawl! [check]
I am very excited about the Mercury free Pub Crawl! Hope this bill gets passed. Knowledge of this event has certainly raised my awareness level. This link came from Margie listing grocery stores that provide mercury levels in their seafood products: http://www.oceana.org/index.php?id=1530
Liz, I will have to check out that film.
I am very excited about the Mercury free Pub Crawl! Hope this bill gets passed. Knowledge of this event has certainly raised my awareness level. This link came from Margie listing grocery stores that provide mercury levels in their seafood products: http://www.oceana.org/index.php?id=1530
Liz, I will have to check out that film.