Mercury is a toxic element that has been associated with nervous system damage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It is particularly toxic for developing fetuses and young children, so state advisories urge extra caution by children and women of child-bearing age.
Mercury tends to accumulate in the flesh of creatures that consume it. Large predator fish, such as bass and carp, are particularly notorious for accumulations of mercury since they eat the smaller creatures in a contaminated food chain.
Mercury occurs naturally in northern California soils, and there were once working mercury mines throughout the area. The element also is washed down from the Sierra foothills as a byproduct of mining in the Gold Rush era, eventually reaching San Francisco Bay, and may be precipitating out of clouds of pollution from power plants in Asia, according to state officials.
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