by Pam Uher

Created on: August 12, 2008   Last Updated: August 29, 2008

America has been issued a warning that the fish you catch in many streams, creeks, rivers and lakes are contaminated. They contain dangerous levels of toxic chemicals that compromise your health. Besides the poisonous fertilizer chemicals, manufacturing dyes, factory run-off spills of toxic chemicals; power plants are spitting over 48 tons of mercury into the air, which eventually falls into every waterway in America (Earthjustice,2008).

Mercury the extremely dangerous toxin has in the modern world become spread throughout our environment and is having devastating results on the world. Human health and wellbeing is seriously threatened by the mercury emissions, which lead to developmental issues in children and cancerous tumors. You do not believe it? The documentation is available to prove how deadly this chemical is in various major university center studies over the past 5 years.

Coal-fired power plants are some of the biggest polluters with cement kilns running a very close second. Mercury spewed into the air from these industries returns to contaminate rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes and streams with methylmercury. This neurotoxin enters the water habitats and bodies of all aquatic life from fish to toads to turtles and from there works its way up the food chain. Even the oceans and large predatory sea creatures are showing dangerous levels of mercury.

New University studies are showing direct corrolation between Autism and mercury levels (University of Texas Health Science Center), especially in areas where children live close to power plants and cement kilns.

The facts are mounting that mercury pollution is killing us and altering our environment drastically.

* 45 states issued that over 2,000 fish in their waterways had dangerous levels of mercury contamination and were dangerous to eat.

* Only 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury will contaminate a 25 acre lake and make the fish unsafe to consume (Earthjustice 2008).

* Mercury accumulates in your body and we are presently being exposed to and ingesting it faster than we can expunge it from our system. Thus studies show we are seeing more and more neuro-motor developmental issues in children over the last 25 years with corrolation to mercury levels in the body.

* Science has shown 3 times more mercury is entering the atmosphere today than before the Industrial Revolution. The effects of methylmercury upon pregnant women, and their fetus is toxic and well documented. Brain development and neuromotor development (ability to talk, read and write)is impaired by methylmercury exposure and levels in the body.

So the "acidic" rain falling into once pristine rivers and lakes is effecting fish stocks, which eventually end up on your dining table. Eat up America, look what the Industrial cycle of greed has brought to your home today!

Ponder your neighborhood pond or stream sometime soon and search for frogs, toads, turtles and other waterworld life once found in abundance, when I was a kid. I am in my 50's and have been wondering where are the toads and frogs have gone?

Mercury is toxic and deadly. The methylmercury residuals of our power plants, cement kilns and other chemical processing factories are killing us in the name of progress...or is it greed?

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