Mercury Found in Every Fish Tested
Scientists found that every fish and every river that they tested across the West showed some level of mercury contamination. This suggests at least some pervasive effects of industrial mercury contamination. The survey of 2,707 fish randomly collected from 626 rivers in 12 states is the largest regional testing of mercury levels in fish in the west. The findings by scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon State University were reported in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
No effort was made to specifically link the mercury in the fish to the mercury in the environment, but the low but widespread levels of mercury suggests that the exposure came from deposition: mercury in the atmosphere falling to the earth in rain and snow, said Alan Herlihy, from the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Levels of mercury generally were higher in fish-eating fish, like bass, walleye, and pike, as opposed to insect-eating fish, like trout.
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