Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification with Mercury

Directions: Describe the nationwide occurrence and distribution of mercury in fish tissue.
Four paragraphs consisting of five sentences in each paragraph. Double spaced
1.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vwjZseY-9w
2.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teGGgaZNdJY

The earth has been facing a variety of different issues throughout the years, from global warming and

water pollution, which has only been getting worse. For years factories have polluted our air and water,

now it's polluting our food. We need to stop these factories from releasing these chemicals into our

atmosphere, because it is having drastic effects on the world. It is already wreaking havoc on our

ecosystem, and affecting our daily lives too. Now we might ask, what exactly is the issue at hand to

address here? Well, it’s a little something we call mercury.

Throughout the years, mercury has built up a lot in the atmosphere due to nearby factories producing tons

of it. It’s produced from the amount of coal being burned which releases mercury into the air, and then

ending up in bodies of water. Due to this accumulation of mercury, it has even affected the nearby

ecosystems there and ends up being in the fish we eat from day to day. This type of mercury is very

dangerous for humans, and generally why it's suggested to not eat fish as often. Consumption of mercury

can lead to a lot of negative after effects, mainly to the nervous system which can cause things such as

headaches, fatigue, tremors, hearing loss, and potentially even death.

People may not realize this but in fact, 95% of mercury in fishes is methylmercury. Fish that commonly

contain high levels of mercury are species that tend to be predators, like northern pikes or muskellunge.

This is due to all the prey they eat that have accumulated mercury from other prey and so on. Essentially,

it’s recommended to not eat known predator fishes like ones mentioned previously, and instead eat things

like salmon, shrimp, catfish, pollock, and tuna. These contain significantly lower levels of mercury, or
none at all. While consuming little amounts of mercury doesn’t affect humans too much, it is still

recommended to avoid it if you can with the previously suggested alternatives.

To conclude, the world is suffering due to the increase of pollutants in our waters, which will drastically

affect the viable water available and its ecosystems. If it goes into our waters, it will affect our ecosystem,

the fish, and then finally us. In order to prevent further damage from happening, companies should start

working on lowering coal emissions in factories and using other sources of energy. If we don’t do

something about it now, then it will become irreversible, permanent damage. For years these factories

have impacted our environment and it has gotten worse because of it. At last this must be stopped or soon

there will be no more planet to destroy.