Study: Mercury Levels Higher in Certain Ethnic Communities

The Sierra Club yesterday released information that suggests the Latino community faces a higher than average risk from toxic mercury pollution because of cultural, economic and linguistic factors.

An analysis—provided to the Sierra Club from the polling firm Bendixen & Amandi's 2008 National Survey of Latinos on the Environment—provides new evidence that toxic mercury pollution, often from coal-fired power plants, constitutes a clear danger to the health of Hispanics.

"Hispanics in the United States should be especially concerned about the fish that they catch, since many local waterways have high levels of mercury pollution," said Fernand Amandi, managing partner of Bendixen & Amandi. "Even though the study was conducted in the last 36 months, the findings are still relevant because these are habits and attitudes that generally do not change greatly over time."

Robyn Thaw, public information and communication officer for the San Mateo County Health System, told Patch that mercury poisoning is not tracked at the local level. "We have not seen any data for our county," she said.

According to the Sierra Club release "31 percent of Latinos fish regularly, and 76 percent of those eat and share what they catch with their families. These families include young children and women of childbearing age, the two most vulnerable population sectors to mercury poisoning."

Cited as a special concern in the study is a lack of bilingual mercury advisories for the Latino community. Fish advisories and warning signs posted near waterways are very rarely in Spanish.

Mercury poisoning occurs by ingesting contaminated fish. Exposure to mercury in utero can contribute to birth defects including neurological and developmental disorders, learning disabilities, delayed onset of walking and talking, and cerebral palsy.

According to the Sierra Club, at least 1 in 12, and as many as 1 in 6 American women have enough mercury in their bodies to put a baby at risk. That means more than 300,000 babies are born each year at risk of mercury poisoning.

A study conducted by the University of California-Davis titled, "Fishing for Justice or Just Fishing," revealed that Hispanic anglers fish close to home because they have few transportation options. The fish caught in urban areas tend to contain the highest concentrations of mercury contamination.

The Sierra Club states that this exposure to mercury is already showing high levels of contamination among Hispanic anglers. According to another University of California-Davis study, Hispanic anglers in California on average ingest 13.9 micrograms of mercury per day via fish they catch—mostly in local waters—which is almost twice the Environmental Protection Agency’s safe limit.