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Oceans are Being Irreversibly Harmed 21 June 2010

An article in the June 2010 edition of the journal Science describes how environmental toxins such as pesticides and mercury are irreversibly damaging the oceans. The researchers conclude that “Major observed trends include a shift in the acid-base chemistry of seawater, reduced subsurface oxygen, rising coastal nitrogen levels, and widespread increase in mercury”. These changes are “tied either directly or indirectly to human fossil fuel combustion, fertilizer use, and industrial activity, are projected to grow in coming decades, resulting in increasing negative impacts on ocean biota and marine resources.”

Take home message: The implications of pesticide use and coal burning are becoming profound. Nature takes toxic mercury, covers it in a hard black rock called coal and buries it several hundred feet under the ground to keep it safe. We then dig it up and burn it for fuel, releasing the toxic mercury into the air and oceans! This “increasing negative impact” includes fish consumption. Anyone eating fish needs to take steps to also remove (chelate) mercury from their tissues.

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