The secret lives of mercury testers

I just wanted to contribute to this discussion as I think it is very important and one of those ‘bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best’ issues. For a little background, I should say that I work for one of the agencies that collect fish tissue for Hg analysis around the state and I in fact used to sample fish being brought back to the docks. Given my experience, I have followed the data from collection, to analysis, to reporting and know of glaring gaps in the process, particularly the reporting. I have spoken to people at the various agencies involved to get more information on the analysis, process and reporting.

Here is how mercury testing is done for saltwater fish. Biologists collect fish tissue from around the state according to protocol and list of target species. Samples are processed and sent to FDEP for analysis. There is (or was when I was collecting fish tissue a few years ago) such a bottleneck at the analysis level mainly due to staff shortage that they can’t handle too many samples. There are field labs and personnel around the entire state so essentially all areas get sampled, some more than others, some species more than others. A species needs to have at least 20 samples processed in an area to get analyzed and reported and then an average of the Hg in the tissue is analyzed against the legal standard. Having looked at the data, not the raw data, but a summary of the data, the range of mercury in any one given sample can have a pretty large range and may differ in the various regions throughout the state. Generally, the Everglades and Florida Bay have higher mercury levels.

Some other points of interest:
· If you go out and catch a spotted seatrout, for instance, there is no real way to know how much mercury is in it since the range is so large. However, generally, the bigger the fish the more mercury it likely has accumulated. So even though a fish has a lower advisory level, the individual fish may have very little Hg or way over the ‘safe’ limits.

· Just because a fish isn’t on the ‘advisory’ list, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that species is low in mercury. It requires the minimum 20 samples (which can be accumulated since 1989). In other words, an advisory may be based on older data from the 1990s solely or in part. However, since the late 1990s, mercury sampling throughout the state has been ramped up and most of the Hg analysis is based on more recent fish. But there are or have been fish left off the state advisory list that in all likelihood should be there. For instance, swordfish are notorious for their high mercury levels but are (or were in 2005) left off the states’ list. This is simply because there weren’t enough samples to analyze. This is frustrating to me on a personal level since I actually sampled over 20 swordfish from one commercial boat but those samples got lost in the shipping (I won’t condemn the company here!).

· Mercury bioaccumulates in fish tissue and other seafood like blue crab, and stays in our bodies when we consume fish with mercury for some time. However, we can expel the mercury through excretion and sweat. So if you eat a fish with Hg and do not consume any more Hg for ~2 months, that Hg should have left your body. The problem becomes when the intake becomes or remains higher than the output. So our family (mother of child-bearing age and an almost-3- year old) closely monitors our intake of fish in our diets, pay particular attention to what species, try not to eat fish if we don’t know what it is.

· Fish that are imported are not sampled for mercury, at least not to my knowledge. Not only is it very difficult for the consumer to determine 1) where their meal at a restaurant is from, 2) if it was farmed, 3) what the actual species is, 4) how much Hg, and whatever else is in it. There are growing incidents in Florida , and here in Tallahassee , where DNA tests from fish on the menu are not actually what they say they are. An article in the St Pete Times a few years ago showed that about 50% of the sampled snapper from about 15 area restaurants (in Tampa ) were not snapper. The good news is that most of the fish sold as snapper or grouper, if it is not actually that species, it is probably farm raised tilapia – much lower in Hg but if it is farm-raised probably has a whole suite of other chemicals.

· It has been claimed that the half of the mercury in our local and state waters comes from across the globe. However long and far Hg travels and gets deposited, it is clear that it just doesn’t get deposited locally. So coal plants in our area will not only affect our waters, but waters downwind. (Even though I am ~45 miles from the Perry paper plant, on some days in the morning I can smell the poisoned air flowing. Generally on cold winter mornings).

· There is wealth of information online from the federal governments (EPA, FDA, etc), scientific reports, etc that claim that some, even high, Hg levels in our body (for male adults, females not bearing children) are not that bad for us and that the health benefits for eating fish tissue (omega-3 fatty acids) far outweigh the consequences of consuming Hg. However, some fish species should be avoided all together (shark, swordfish, kingfish (king mackerel), Spanish mackerel, tuna, etc). Whether this information is put out there to confuse the public, to not create a panic about Hg, or whatever I am not sure. Some of it is misleading but I still wonder what the effects of eating too much Hg for the average male adult is compared to the gain in eating fish. It is too bad that we have to make that sort of risk-benefit analysis when we know that if we quit polluting the earth with Hg, we wouldn’t have to make that decision. In my opinion, putting that kind of risk-benefit out there just skirts around the problem of input into the environment.

· A Chicago Tribune investigative report of a few years ago showed that mercury levels sold in fish at restaurants throughout the country had exceeded the EPA limits. They also found that basically all canned tuna products have the same high levels of Hg and even though one is supposed to be lower in Hg due to the species it really is not.

· ‘head in the sand, hope for the best’ – a game of hot potato is played by the state agencies on Hg levels. FWC collects the fish tissue and turns it over to the FDEP. FWC doesn’t want to acknowledge mercury levels in all of the regulated fish species are on the advisory list and some very important species shouldn’t be eaten at all by anyone (e.g., king mackerel). FDEP tests and analyzes the data and passes the info to FDOH. DOH creates the advisories based on their level of acceptance. DEP and DOH takes no ownership of the Hg in fish tissue, they just are the messenger, FWC just samples the fish. No one wants to take ownership, acknowledge the widespread problem, work on lowering mercury levels, truly inform anglers and consumers about Hg in fish, regulate fish species based on mercury content, allow imported fish to be sold and consumed untested. There is some minimal effort to prosecute violators who do not label or market the fish species correctly, but much more needs to be done (this could be argued for many reasons.

· I think it is up to the consumers (anglers, people who eat/but retail fish products, environmentalists, etc) to unite and force the government to beef up its testing and reporting. At the very least, consumers should be provided with fact sheets on mercury anywhere fish are available for retail or consumption. It should be included in angling guides, through state fish regulation publications, etc. If we don’t demand it, it won’t happen because that will just allow the heads to be stuck in the sand.

Chad

Thanks to coal-burning power plants, the fish on the left might be more dangerous than the fish on the right

The can of tuna might be more dangerous thanks to mercury, most of which is polluted by coal-burning power plants, like those on Jacksonville's Northside. And while tuna isn't the only fish that might come chock full of mercury (in fact, even shark has mercury in it), canned tuna is the most popular fish in the U.S. And, certainly, way more people eat tuna and are possibly exposed to this toxin than are ever bitten by a shark.

Self magazine recently published an excellent article about the dangers of mercury - "How safe is what's in this can?"

If you don't have time to read the full article, here's a look at some key takeaways and excepts:

Mercury's effects on your health...

"When a pregnant woman consumes mercury, it passes through the placenta into the brain of the fetus, where it can linger for years. In extreme amounts, more than 10 micrograms per gram as measured in hair (which scientists use to gauge the body's mercury levels), mercury can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. In the lower-level amounts typically found in Americans—fewer than 2 micrograms per gram in hair—risks to a newborn include a drop of a few IQ points, slow brain development and learning disabilities. Researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate that more than 300,000 babies born each year in this country are at risk of having brain damage due to mercury exposure in utero."

"Women may also have to worry for their own health: A 2003 study by San Francisco internist Jane Hightower, M.D., published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that 89 percent of her female patients had mercury levels above what most scientists consider safe, and that high mercury levels in adults correlated with memory loss, fatigue and muscle aches. Another preliminary study this year found that mothers who delivered prematurely were more likely to have high mercury levels."

"The Faroes study, which also appeared in 1997 and was led by Philippe Grandjean, M.D., professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, showed that children born to mothers with elevated mercury levels were slow to develop motor and speech skills. "Over an entire population, it can be significant," Dr. Grandjean says. "You will have fewer kids who are really bright and will have pushed a few [down so far] they can't compete in high school."

"Recent research on men in Finland found that mercury in fish increased their risk for heart disease, potentially counteracting the benefits hearts get from omega-3's. Dr. Grandjean, who led the Faroe Islands study, argues that although low-mercury fish is definitely a health food, the evidence linking mercury to heart disease is now strong enough that no one—man, woman or child—should eat fish with elevated mercury levels."

Where does the mercury in tuna and other fish come from?

"Mercury is a liquid metal found in rocks, including coal. When power plants burn coal, they release mercury, causing nearly half of U.S. man-made mercury pollution, according to the EPA."

"Every day in this country, coal-fired power plants in all 50 states spew out particles laced with mercury."

"... a 2002 study published in Environmental Science & Technology estimated that 70 percent of the mercury in our atmosphere was put there by humans."

And now a quick look at the power industry...

"But has women's health truly come first in the government's handling of the mercury issue? For the past decade, numerous scientists have accused the FDA of ignoring their advice and watering down its rules to suit the wishes of Big Tuna: the fisheries that catch and process tuna and the companies that sell it. "It's been complete and utter foot dragging by the FDA," says Deborah Rice, Ph.D., a former senior toxicologist at the EPA now working for the state of Maine. At the same time, Big Tuna—and the electrical-power industry that generates mercury emissions in the first place—have put money into scientific studies that found low threats from mercury and have used that research to argue against tighter rules. Leonardo Trasande, M.D., an expert on environmental toxins at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, says the result of the country's lax methylmercury regulations will be felt for decades to come: 'Mercury is going to poison an entire generation of our nation's children.'"

"But the most reassuring mercury news that year came from an international team ... working in the Seychelles islands off the east coast of Africa. At the time the women studied gave birth, they had about 6 mcg per gram of mercury in their hair—an alarmingly high level. But at a year and a half, the women's babies showed no ill effects. The work...was funded by the governments of the United States and the Seychelles, not private industry. Big Tuna and the power industry chipped in the following year, giving some of the Seychelles researchers grants of half a million dollars to evaluate methods of testing children for cognitive defects resulting from environmental toxins, including mercury. In addition to money from an FDA program, the project attracted $5,000 from the fisheries institute, $10,000 from the U.S. Tuna Foundation and $486,000 from the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, a research group funded by electric power-plant companies. (Officials with the EPRI did not return calls for comment.)"

"Yet the fact remains, as Dr. Hightower puts it, that in contrast to studies connected to industry, "most independent studies have found that mercury has harmful health effects." A 2007 British study published in Lancet was the exception, suggesting that eating seafood while pregnant has net health benefits for children. But other independent studies in the United States, New Zealand and the Faroe Islands near Iceland have all shown danger to children due to mercury in seafood."

"The power industry helped underwrite a speech by University of Rochester researcher Philip Davidson, Ph.D., (from the Seychelles study) to a July 2003 conference co-hosted by the American Association on Mental Retardation."

"The San Francisco judge who ruled against consumer warnings relied heavily on the testimony of François Morel, Ph.D., professor of geosciences at Princeton University in New Jersey, whose findings indicate that very little of the mercury in tuna comes from man-made sources. The state countered in its appeal that Morel's claims are "not shared by any other scientists in the field." Morel's research had been aided by—surprise—the U.S. Tuna Foundation. He says that since 2003, he has also accepted roughly $150,000 a year in grants from the Electric Power Research Institute. The power industry has funded almost all of the research into the chemistry of mercury, he adds. "I've yet to see any problems. People are honest and EPRI realizes it would damage itself by trying to skew the results."

And mercury doesn't just damage health, but possibly the economy as well

"And then there's tuna. It has become a focus of mercury worries because we eat so much of it: Canned tuna is the most popular fish in the United States and the second most popular seafood after shrimp, generating close to $1.5 billion in sales annually. That means, as Dr. Jane Hightower notes, 'the issue of mercury in fish involves not only the health of the consumer, but the health of the economy.'"

What to do? What to do?

"The message she (Dr. Jane Hightower, who has treated nearly 100 women for mercury poisoning) gives patients: Use common sense. Fish such as salmon, flax-fed hens, grass-fed beef and fortified products are all good sources of healthy fats. "You can get omega 3's without significantly increasing your mercury level and at the same time have a very healthful diet," she says. "Poison is not a good thing to eat."

The tools at OceansAlive.org can help you sort out which fish have high levels of mercury, and which have low levels of mercury.

Write the city council and mayor. Tell them to require JEA to lower mercury emissions and fund the testing of Jacksonville's water for mercury.

Something is rotten in Jacksonville

Setting: St. Johns River?

City's Response to Effects of Mercury Pollution, "La la la la la la, we can't hear you."

Not literally, of course. But, since Jacksonville has the highest mercury emissions in the state, one would hope our city would be proactive to find out how that effects us all. According to a recent article in Folioweekly, that doesn't seems to be the case...

From Folioweekly, July 17, 2007:

Poison Control
A local census of mercury pollution shows Jacksonville is in big trouble. So why won't the city's Environmental Protection Board step up to help?

Environment Owen Holmes oholmesATfolioweekly.com

(image) The Public Trust's Quilla Miralia, who was instrumental in assembling the group's report on mercury.

Unknown Quantities
How bad is mercury pollution in Jacksonville? The city's Environmental Protection Board doesn't want to know

Concerned about the severe physical and neurological impacts of mercury exposure, Jacksonville's Public Trust Environmental Law Institute brought a representative from the national Mercury Deposition Network to address the city of Jacksonville's Environmental Protection Board at its Jan. 8 meeting. MDN assistant coordinator David Gay laid out the need for Jacksonville to thoroughly assess its mercury levels. The board responded by asking The Public Trust to find out what is currently known about local mercury, and report back.

The group did so last week. Six months in the marking, the exhaustive review of the existing body of knowledge on mercury concludes that information about levels in Northeast Florida's air and water is spotty at best, often conflicting and derived largely from industry self-reporting. Despite the absence of reliable data, the report states, it's likely that Northeast Florida is a "mercury hotspot" due to the presence of major coal-fired power plants (including two adjacent to the Timucuan Preserve) and the region's coastal geography and intricate waterway system. The prevalence of fish in local diets makes residents further predisposed to mercury exposure, which has been linked to brain damage and autism.

To ensure that mercury will be thoroughly, independently monitored -- and that policies might be subsequently adjusted -- The Public Trust again proposed that the EPB fund testing by the nationally recognized Mercury Deposition Network. The $120,000 cost would include sampling every rainfall for a year, with a focus on the area around JEA's Northside Generating Station and St. Johns River Power Park -- the two biggest sources or mercury emissions in the city. (According to JEA's own 2003 estimates, the two facilities are the source of 20 percent of Florida's total mercury emissions, but JEA has since said their estimates were skewed.) The study would also trace various mercury compounds back to their source industries.

But after The Public Trust president and former Environmental Protection Board member Warren Anderson presented his group's findings, the EPB was non-committal at best. Some members suggested asking local college students to perform the testing, or asking JEA to fund the study. Chair Michael Templeton said the issue, like global warming, seems "bigger than life." No conclusion was reach; after a few minutes of discussion, the meeting moved on to a Sunshine Law refresher course.

Asked about the board's position on the study, EPB program administrator Christi Veleta says the board simply doesn't know whether it will fund the program. "We haven't even gone there, to be honest with you. The discussion at the meeting is as far as it's gone," she says, adding that it's possible the issue will arise at upcoming committee meetings. Asked if the board feels that testing mercury levels is a priority, Veleta responds, "We sure need to find out all the information we can find out. No one doubts that."

Weighing the dangers of mercury exposure against feel-good EPB programs like the annual kids' EnviroCamp makes the difficulty of securing money for mercury testing more frustrating. However, funding for the program wouldn't come from the EPB's annual budget, says Veleta. Instead, if the board decides to approve funding for the study, the money would be taken from the city's Environmental Protection Trust Fund, a depository for funds the city gains from settlements with local environmental violators. According to city spokesperson Kristen Key, the fund currently has a balance of more than $1.3 million. Anderson says given the EPB's inaction, he'll now ask JEA to fund the study. If the utility refuses, he'll work on persuading EPB members individually -- "Are you going to do this voluntarily or are we going to have to shame you into it?" he says.

The MDN program has the endorsement of Thomas Atkeson, mercury coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Resource Assessment and Management. "Long-term, consistent monitoring is essential to understanding the trends of mercury impacting our waterbodies and watersheds, which will certainly she light of the path of mercury in Florida and the nation," he wrote in a July 3 letter to The Public Trust, noting that his department was a charter member of the MDN. "I look forward with great anticipation of having another mercury deposition monitoring site in Florida."
Given the level of the EPB's interest in funding the study to date, Atkeson shouldn't hold his breath. In the meantime, The Public Trust's report on existing mercury data can be viewed online at publictrustlaw.org.

If you think the Environmental Protection Board should fund mercury testing, please click here to write the mayor and city council.

You gave these people your vote, now give them a piece of your mind UPDATED

...and protect your mind. Tell them to require JEA to lower mercury emissions every time it raises rates. Also tell them you want the Environmental Protection Board to test local mercury levels. Here is the updated list for the recently elected City Council. Simply copy and paste addresses of those you want to email into your email program and tell them what you think. Or, an even easier option is below!
Mayor
John Peyton - jpeyton@coj.net
City Council
At Large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell - RonnieF@coj.net
At- Large Group 2
Jay Jabour - Jabour@coj.net
At-Large Group 3
Stephen Joost - Joost@coj.net
At-Large Group 4
Kevin Hyde - KHyde@coj.net
At-Large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson - GloriousJ@coj.net
District 1
Clay Yarborough - Clay@coj.net
District 2
Bill Bishop - WBishop@coj.net
District 3
Richard Clark - RClark@coj.net
District 4
Don Redman - Redman@coj.net
District 5
Art Shad - AShad@coj.net
District 6
Jack Webb - Webb@coj.net
District 7
Dr. Johnny A. Gaffney - Gaffney@coj.net
District 8
E. Denise Lee - EDLee@coj.net
District 9
Warren Anthony Jones - WAJones@coj.net
District 10
Mia Jones - MJones@coj.net
District 11
Ray Holt - Holt@coj.net
District 12
Daniel Davis - DDavis@coj.net
District 13
Arthur Graham - ArtG@coj.net
District 14
Michael Corrigan - Corrigan@coj.net

If you don't have time to craft your own email to candidates, here is a suggested note you can just copy and paste into your email. Of course, feel free to revise as you see best. Also, below the note you will find a list of all candidates' email addresses divided by commas. Simply copy and paste the entire list into the "To:" field of your email program.

Dear Candidate,
I am writing you to ask you to support the Mercury Falling initiative, which calls for JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in the country for mercury emissions (according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse, the report found that virtually all of our county's emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station.

Mercury is considered harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young brains, and is known to cause attention deficits, memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ. Exposure to high levels of mercury may cause loss of motor function and irreversible nerve and kidney damage. Mercury emissions may harm Jacksonville's economy in other ways as well. For example, Jacksonville is well known for the annual Kingfish Tournament, but state health officials recommend people never eat large kingfish because they contain so much mercury.

JEA is a public utility and its board of directors is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. That is why it is in your control to do something about this problem and pledge your support to the Mercury Falling initiative.

Thank you,

And here is a list of current council members' emails you can post in the "To:" field of your email program...
jpeyton@coj.net, RonnieF@coj.net, Jabour@coj.net, Joost@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, Clay@coj.net, WBishop@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, Redman@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, Webb@coj.net, Gaffney@coj.net, EDLee@coj.net, WAJones@coj.net, MJones@coj.net, Holt@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net

Heavy Metal: Bad enough on the radio, even worse in Jacksonville's food supply

The next time you take a bite out of a juicy orange you picked off a tree in your backyard or a blueberry from a local farmer's market, you might want to stop and think what you're really eating. Jacksonville's coal-fired power plants emit A LOT of mercury. Is that mercury making its way into our local food supply?

For a hint whether this dangerous neurotoxin can get into our food supply, we can take a look at China. A recent Wall Street Journal article ("China Faces a New Worry: Heavy Metals in the Food," 7/2/07) delved into the effects of pollution in that country. Among its findings..."China’s soil contamination is caused by a range of factors. Mercury released into the air by coal-fired power plants is captured by raindrops, and transferred to the soil and groundwater."

Is JEA's pollution making its way into our food? And, if so, what is the true cost of your electric bill? Just some questions to nosh on.