Higher levels of pollutants found in fish caught near a coal-fired power plant

The study, abstract number 157770, found higher-than-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-recommended levels of mercury and elevated levels of selenium in channel catfish caught in a rural area upstream of Pittsburgh and downwind from a coal-fired power plant. Both mercury and selenium are well-known contaminants of coal burning for power generation. The results will be presented at a special session on “Contaminants in Freshwater Fish: Toxicity, Sources and Risk Communication,” at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7.

To complete the study, researchers recruited local anglers to catch channel catfish from the three rivers area of Pittsburgh and from Kittanning, Pa., an area 40 miles upstream of Pittsburgh. The three rivers area includes the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. Based on testing of 63 fish, they found that Kittanning and three rivers area fish had 19 and 3.1 times more mercury, respectively, than store-bought fish. They also found significantly higher levels of mercury and selenium in the Kittanning-caught fish than in the fish caught in the three rivers area.

Results showed that the risk of developing neurological disorders from ingesting catfish with such high levels of mercury as those caught near Kittanning were eight times higher than the EPA’s acceptable risk for children under six years of age; seven times higher for children between seven and 16 years of age; and six times higher for women of child-bearing age. For the general population, this risk was five times higher than the EPA’s acceptable risk. The results also indicated to the researchers that fish can be used as bio-sensors to locate and find sources of area pollution.

“Given these results, we should be concerned about fish caught in areas that are situated close to coal-fired power plants, even if upstream from more heavily polluted areas,” said Conrad D. Volz, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., principal investigator, department of environmental and occupational health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. “These types of power plants may be significant sources of mercury and selenium in fish contamination. We believe it is important for fish consumption advisories to take into account industries such as power plants that may be important sources of water pollution, and warn people in these areas about the dangers of consuming local fish.”

Ingestion of fish with high levels of mercury has been linked to neurological and developmental problems and birth defects.

Media Contact

Clare Collins EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.upmc.edu

All latest news from the category: Ecology, The Environment and Conservation

This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.

innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors