ISLAND VOICES
Mercury poisoning a danger to us all

By Timothy Fitzgerald, Rod Fujita and Tim Male

In 2001, kids playing in an old pumphouse found mercury and brought it back to their Halawa homes, sending many families to the hospital for treatment. Mercury is toxic even in such small amounts that lawyers wanted the housing complex declared a federal disaster area.

A new health advisory from the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency drives home the point that we are all exposing ourselves to this dangerous contaminant every time we eat fish. In fact, Hawai'i's residents are exposed to more mercury than most Americans, because of frequent fish consumption and high levels of mercury in Hawai'i's most popular fish.

Mercury is found naturally in the environment, but more than half of global mercury emissions comes from coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, mining and industry. Although there are few of these in Hawai'i, the mercury emitted from power plants around the Pacific still makes it into our ocean waters.

Mercury is retained in our bodies for several months and can damage the brain, kidneys and other organs. Eating sea-food is generally good for you, but the trick — particularly for pregnant and nursing mothers — is to pick seafood that is low in mercury. Shutome, kajiki and shark have the highest mercury levels and should be avoided by these groups. Ahi, tombo, ono and opah have elevated levels as well.

The Hawai'i Department of Health recommends eating smaller species like akule, mullet and 'opelu. Some imported fish, like wild salmon from Alaska and farmed tilapia, are also low in contaminants and ecologically friendly. For more information on making good seafood choices, read the Hawai'i Department of Health's "A Local Guide to Eating Fish Safely" and visit www.environmentalde fense.org/go/seafood.

We should support Hawai'i's congressional delegation as it fights for our health against a disastrous energy bill that subsidizes mercury-polluting industries, and we should send letters criticizing proposed regulations by the EPA that do too little, too late to reduce mercury pollution (actionnetwork.org/campaign/nationalmercury).

Timothy Fitzgerald is an oceans research associate at Environmental Defense in New York. Rod Fujita is a marine ecologist at Environmental Defense. Tim Male is a wildlife scientist at Environmental Defense in Washington.