Fish sampled from a total of 291 streams across the United States of America between the years of 1998 and 2005 were found to contain levels of mercury higher than those deemed safe for human ingestion. The report published in a non peer reviewed journal – the US Geological Survey in August 2009 says that more than 2 thirds of the fish sampled contained levels of mercury that exceeded the Environment Protection Agency’s level of concern for the protection of fish eating mammals – including humans.
The principle sources of airborne mercury in the United States is coal fired power stations.
Scudder, B.C., Chasar, L.C., Wentz, D.A., Bauch, N.J., Brigham, M.E., Moran, P.W., and Krabbenhoft, D.P., 2009, Mercury in fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States, 1998–2005: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5109, 74 p. View Paper
