Fishing is still a favorite pass-time of many people, but unfortunately, eating the fish could pose some possible dangers for your health. The U.S. Geological Service released a report saying that recent testing in 291 streams across the country yielded results that show dangerously high levels of Mercury in the fish. Every single fish they tested showed some Mercury.

Mercury is a neurotoxin that can lead to “…birth defects, tremors, speech impairment, and brain damage.” The source of the Mercury is thought to be coal-fired power plants. The coal particles are released into the air it then makes it’s way into the water systems, and into the fish. The problem appears to be worse in the Southeast, Northeast, and Upper Midwest.

…where fishing in streams is very common and widely assumed to be safe. “Conditions were just right for those locations to take inorganic mercury in the atmosphere and convert it into methylmercury, the most toxic form,” says Barbara Scudder, the lead scientist on the study.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Mercury Found In Fish Throughout US

For a while, that’s all anyone could talk about. We were watching the crows in our backyard closely because if you saw one dead it could mean the West Nile virus had killed it. People were buying surgical masks and staying away from standing water.

But now, just a few years later, talk of these diseases is almost nonexistent. The article questioned where this was due to an actual decline in these diseases, or less media attention. Given the state of the economy and healthcare status in the U.S., it seems that the attention has simply shifted. We can only worry about so many things at one time, and when you don’t have a job and can’t afford health insurance, the West Nile virus and SARS seem light years away.

Image from StockXchange.

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Are Outbreaks Still a Concern?

“The full impact of the childhood obesity epidemic has yet to be seen because it can take up to 10 years or longer for obese individuals to develop type 2 diabetes,” says Lee, a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit at Mott. “Children who are obese today are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as young adults.”

What will diabetes do to our future generations? Young adults with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop complications such as blindness and kidney failure during their lifetimes and they have higher rates of diabetes complications and heart disease than older adults as well as babies born to young women with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes thus creating a vicious cycle.

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The epidemic of diabetes hasn’t even begun…