BURNING COAL TAKES IT'S TOLL ON YET ANOTHER SPECIES
Lakes in Northeastern U.S. are so polluted with mercury that the common loon population is threatened. According to a long term study released by the Wildlife Conservaion Society and BioDiversity Research Institute, environmental mercury from human-generated emissions is damaging the health and reproductive success of common loons in the Northeast.
Metallic mercury and inorganic mercury compounds enters the air from mining ore deposits, burning coal and waste, and from manufacturing plants and falls into bodies of water such as the northern lakes inhabited by loons.
In the western watershed of Maine’s upper Kennebec River, 43 percent of adult loons have blood mercury levels considered poisonous (more than the established adverse effects threshold of 3 parts per million). Loon pairs with this much mercury produce up to 40 percent fewer young than healthier loons, and that spells trouble for population stability. Loon numbers in an area may begin to drop, researchers concluded, if at least one in four loons have blood mercury levels exceeding the threshold.
Loons with high levels of mercury were found to spend some 14 percent less time at the nest than normally behaving birds. Unattended nests have a higher rate of failure due to either chilling of the eggs or predation by minks, otters, raccoons and other egg robbers.
High levels of mercury were found in about 16 percent of the adult population in the study area.
Canary in a Coal Mine
Oh yeah...Mercury also causes developmental problems in fetuses and children, primarily entering the body through consumption of tainted fish. Mercury primarily enters the food chain through water, where it is transformed into toxic methyl mercury, and can poison loons, bald eagles and other wildlife.
The human nervous system is sensitive to all forms of mercury. Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic, or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. The study was conducted to determine its effects on loons.
