The amount of mercury extracted from the sea by industrial fishing has grown steadily since the 1950s, potentially increasing mercury exposure among the populations of several coastal and island nations to levels that are unsafe for fetal development.
The amount of mercury extracted from the sea by industrial fishing has grown steadily since the 1950s, potentially increasing mercury exposure among the populations of several coastal and island nations to levels that are unsafe for fetal development.
These are the findings of a study carried out by researchers from University of Montreal's Department of Biological Sciences and published this week in Scientific Reports.
The study combined data on the amount of mercury fished out of oceans and seas from 1950 to 2014 and the weekly consumption of fish and seafood by the populations of 175 countries between 1961 and 2011.
By comparing this data, which was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), postdoctoral fellow Raphaël Lavoie was able to estimate these populations’ per capita intake of methylmercury (MeHg), a highly toxic form of mercury.
Read more at University of Montreal
Image Credit: Stuart Rankin
