Mystery of fish mercury levels solved

Another claim of a man made environmental disaster turns out to be false:

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090922_Mystery_of_fish_mercury_levels_solved.html

Here are the facts as outlined in the above article:

• Kaneko said there is an assumption that mercury in open-ocean fish is directly related to atmospheric mercury emissions and pollution, but there is no evidence of that.
• Studies done in 1971 and again in 1998 on the amount of mercury in Hawaii yellowfin tuna showed no differences despite a 26 percent increase in atmospheric mercury emissions, he said.
• Mercury is a natural trace element in the environment that has never been associated with toxicity in Hawaii's ocean fish, said Kaneko, whose research focuses on public health.
• But methylmercury, an organic form of the mineral converted by bacteria, can be toxic if eaten at high levels by animals or people.
• Kaneko said there is substantial scientific evidence that high levels of selenium in ocean fish counteract toxic levels of mercury. Selenium, also a natural element, has antioxidant functions and is known to bind to mercury, he said. "When those two elements bind together, they're biologically inert.
• "What we're finding, in some research we're just finishing now, is it's the ratios of mercury to selenium that is more important than the amount of mercury in fish," Kaneko added.

Rising mercury levels in the ocean food chain is one of the arguments used against burning coal. This study debunks that argument. If this study had confirmed that man’s activities are raising the levels of mercury you would hear about it insistently in the media. I predict that this study will be buried by the media.