Ennuipoet: /Also had unsafe Mercury levels

Lols.

Why do we ignore the warning signs? Does the permafrost have to melt completely?

Why do we ignore the warning signs? How do you think he got this way?

ShawnDoc: it was probably the USDA she worked for

Is that, like, the opposite of USADA?

/livestrong!

A Barney Miller reference? Careful subby, that's an antique.

84 percent of all fish

But seriously, why did they put the contaminated fish back?

It's bad enough that we kill them and eat them but do we really need to poison them first?

Tickle Mittens: A Barney Miller reference? Careful subby, that's an antique.

Now that bassline will be in my head all day

/and that's ok by me
//Jack Soo

Level at which mercury becomes "unsafe" according to the Federal government: 5 parts per million, set as 1/3 of what they knew from some very large studies to be a safe level (about 15 ppm before any effects are even detected).

Level of mercury found in the fish in the study: between about 0.4 and 1.4 parts per million - from about 1/12 to about 1/3 of actual recommended maximum levels.

Level at which the study arbitrarily sets "unsafe": 0.22 parts per million.

How to get "unsafe" mercury levels in fish: redefine the actual unsafe levels as about 1/20 of what they actually are. From their charts, it looks like they took the lowest level they could detect in any actual fish and divided it by 2.

I would like to see the seafood caught in Pacific and Alaskan waters tested for radioactivity.

/that's hot

84% of all fish

Buh-but industry. Our lives of luxury. Our first-world problems.

Reducing mercury pollution is on the agenda of the United Nations conference this week in Geneva

That's all you needed to know to be very suspicious of the whole thing.

Wait wait, let me guess... We'll do the usual thing where the United States spends a ton of money to abide by the treaty, some countries in Europe and Asia spend a ton of money to abide by the treaty, everyone else makes no effort what so ever and simply profits.

:whistles:

that aint "fresh ocean air" you're huffing...

energized mercury, lol

MyNameIsMofuga: It's bad enough that we kill them and eat them but do we really need to poison them first?

THIS!

What has my kind ever done to your people?

Evil Mackerel: MyNameIsMofuga: It's bad enough that we kill them and eat them but do we really need to poison them first?

THIS!

What has my kind ever done to your people?

You have consistently stood in the way of progress.

Evil Mackerel: MyNameIsMofuga: It's bad enough that we kill them and eat them but do we really need to poison them first?

THIS!

What has my kind ever done to your people?

In our defense you are evil.

cirby: Level at which mercury becomes "unsafe" according to the Federal government: 5 parts per million, set as 1/3 of what they knew from some very large studies to be a safe level (about 15 ppm before any effects are even detected).

This PDF describes the EPA's calculations of how often it's safe to eat fish based on its mercury level. At 0.22 ppm it's considered safe to have 4 meals per month of that fish. Unrestricted consumption (more than 16 meals per month) requires less than 0.029 ppm.

Maybe your "5 ppm" is referring to accumulated levels in the human body, rather than to safe levels in food?

whidbey: 84% of all fish

Buh-but industry. Our lives of luxury. Our first-world problems.

Well, technically it's a problem of any culture that relies heavily on a fish diet. Not just first world people.

/Want to see what mercury does? Read up on the Minamata disaster.
//Did a report on that back in college for a Toxic Tragedies course

mgshamster: whidbey: 84% of all fish

Buh-but industry. Our lives of luxury. Our first-world problems.

Well, technically it's a problem of any culture that relies heavily on a fish diet. Not just first world people.

Um, technically it's a problem that we made ourselves, recently, and we could have avoided it entirely. Decades ago.

/Want to see what mercury does? Read up on the Minamata disaster.
//Did a report on that back in college for a Toxic Tragedies course

Yeah, it's bad stuff. Even in the smallest of amounts.

I'd say that between mercury and plastic, we have some good odds that we could be f*cked as a species.

cirby: Level at which mercury becomes "unsafe" according to the Federal government: 5 parts per million, set as 1/3 of what they knew from some very large studies to be a safe level (about 15 ppm before any effects are even detected).

1/3? That's kind of a high bar to set from the NOAEL. They must have had a lot of good, solid research. Usually it's set between 10 - 3000 times below the NOAEL.

mgshamster: Read up on the Minamata disaster.

Oh fark. Now you've put a Dead Kennedys earworm in my branes.

whidbey: mgshamster: whidbey: 84% of all fish

Buh-but industry. Our lives of luxury. Our first-world problems.

Well, technically it's a problem of any culture that relies heavily on a fish diet. Not just first world people.

Um, technically it's a problem that we made ourselves, recently, and we could have avoided it entirely. Decades ago.

/Want to see what mercury does? Read up on the Minamata disaster.
//Did a report on that back in college for a Toxic Tragedies course

Yeah, it's bad stuff. Even in the smallest of amounts.

I'd say that between mercury and plastic, we have some good odds that we could be f*cked as a species.

What's worse is that levels that are normally perfectly fine for an adult (or even a child) can be damaging to a fetus. I'm very happy that my pregnant wife has developed a food aversion to seafood right now.

whidbey: mgshamster: Read up on the Minamata disaster.

Oh fark. Now you've put a Dead Kennedys earworm in my branes.

Heh. Sorry.

I actually haven't heard that song before. Just looked it up. They talk a lot about kepone and Minamata, but I'm not sure what the connection is. The only kepone disaster that I'm aware of happened in Virginia. And Minamata is in Japan.

Hurray for industry not having to pay for the externalities caused by their activities.

=

And, just for good measure:

Ivo Shandor:
This PDF describes the EPA's calculations of how often it's safe to eat fish based on its mercury level. At 0.22 ppm it's considered safe to have 4 meals per month of that fish. Unrestricted consumption (more than 16 meals per month) requires less than 0.029 ppm.

Not mercury - methylmercury.

"US EPA, 2000, Table 4-3 (see attachment) presents risk-based fish consumption limits which relate the number of
fish meals that can be eaten per month to fish tissue concentrations of methylmercury."

They confuse things a bit by mixing mercury and methylmercury concentrations - but methylmercury is a much, much more toxic substance (and found in much lower concentrations in fish).

MaudlinMutantMollusk: Darth_Lukecash: Why isn't the FDA on all this?

It's the FOOD and Drug Administration, not the FISH and Drug Administration

/duh

And because fish are FRIENDS, not FOOD

mgshamster: They talk a lot about kepone and Minamata, but I'm not sure what the connection is.

I think they were trying to make a point about industry poisoning their workers and covering it up.

Petit_Merdeux: ShawnDoc: it was probably the USDA she worked for

Is that, like, the opposite of USADA?

/livestrong!

I prefer the USDVDA

It's still safe if smoked.

I got a girl in the castle and one in the pagoda.

Beerguy: [atlanticseafoodmarket.com image 500x375]

Mmmmmmm......meeeerrrrcuuurrryyyyy

YESSSS!!! No amount of mercury will keep me from my sashimi!