The state of Iowa is failing to warn people to cut back on eating locally caught fish contaminated with mercury and other pollutants at levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds too risky, a study by The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism has found.
More than 330,000 people a year buy licenses to fish Iowa’s waters, and the contaminated fish many catch, eat and provide to their families and friends could pose serious health consequences, especially for children, women of child-bearing age, pregnant women and other vulnerable populations.
Southeast Asians and Hispanics dominate another high-risk group – people who make fish from the state’s rivers, streams and lakes a staple of their diet. But conservation officers say few people, especially minorities, know about the contaminated fish advisories state officials periodically issue. They are written only in English.
The EPA says long exposure to low levels of mercury can harm cardiovascular and immune systems. At higher levels, it can cause neurotoxicity, or a severe impairment of the nervous system, and potentially death. Fetuses exposed to mercury can develop mental retardation, cerebral palsy and deafness. Even at low doses, mercury can lead to cognitive disabilities in children and adversely affect heart and immune systems.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Iowa Independent.
