The one that gets the least attention might be mercury. It has a lot in common with radiation. Both are produced by generating power (radiation from nuclear; mercury from coal). Both mercury and some forms of radiation bio-accumulate, meaning the toxins stay in the body and amass in larger and larger predators. That’s why tuna, near the top of the food chain, have so much. Radiation dissipates over time with every isotopic half-life. But mercury sticks around forever.
David McGuire tests Pacific seafood for mercury with GotMercury.org, an arm of the Turtle Bay Restoration Network. His team has found yellowfin tuna, a species more common to American plates, to sometimes have more than 1 part per million of mercury, the federal limit set by the FDA. Bluefin species have registered up to six times higher than federal standards. “That’s what we should be focused on,” he says. “We need to change our own habits if we're concerned bout our health and the health of the oceans.”
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