Duluth, MN (Northland's NewsCenter) - It's an international issue that hits close to home.
"We know the state of Minnesota has pretty severe Mercury problems. I'm a Walleye fisherman; I love to go out, and like to have a couple meals of Walleye now and then," said Soudan, MN resident Bob Tammen.
And for attendees of "Mercury Awareness Week"—hosted by the Sierra Club at the Great Lakes Aquarium on Saturday—getting down to the facts on this dangerous heavy metal was the mission.
"Mercury does pose a health risk to people who eat fish, and it's easily preventable," said Jessica Tatro, of the Sierra Club.
Mercury begins its life cycle simply enough.
"Most of the mercury in Minnesota comes from coal powered plants. That's true in Minnesota and across the country," said Tatro.
As for how it enters our waterways, another simple task:
"When you burn coal, it goes into the atmosphere, and then rains down into our waterways."
...where it's then converted into methylmercury—its most toxic form—by aquatic organisms, which are then eaten by fish, where it accumulates in fish tissues before it's eaten by other wildlife—or us.
Though everyone has small amounts of Mercury within them, it's high levels of the neurotoxin that start doing damage.
"It affects neurological development in your nervous system, so things like difficulty speaking, numbing in the extremities and other things," said Tatro.
So, what's the lesson for seafood lovers?
"The big lesson is eat smaller fish. Smaller fish have less concentrations of Mercury," said Tatro.
And for those, like Tammen, whose work in the mines may have exposed them to different toxins, working together with businesses to reduce the production of Mercury is where the battle begins.
"We haven't done what we should've done to clean up our existing taconite plants. We shouldn't be permitting more mining operations before we have a handle on the technology that will clean up our existing operations," said Tammen.
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