Asian American Fishermen Affected by Mercury Pollution

While some Asian Americans/Canadians fish for recreation, others fish in order to use their catch to directly feed their families. The Sierra Club is publicizing a study showing how mercury pollution in fish is affecting Hispanic communities, with some Hispanic anglers exposed to almost twice the levels of mercury recommended by the EPA. A blog post from New America Media states that certain Asian Americans are exposed to even higher levels of mercury, twice as much as Hispanics. The post cites this study from UC Davis that finds that Southeast Asians in the California’s Delta, and Laotians in particular, do extensive amounts of subsistence fishing and thus have significant mercury exposure. Some of the mercury in the Delta is natural, while some comes from mines created during the Gold Rush.