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Has your fish ever tasted metallic? If not it may soon start tasting metallic. The PETA has discovered large amounts of mercury in fish. The organization along with Disha and Toxins Link (both Non Governmental Organizations) carried out a survey in West Bengal’s top five fish retail markets and it has been identified that over 60% of the production was contaminated with mercury. The state is well known for its huge fish consumption, every festival and every occasion is celebrated with varieties of fish. The most popular varieties of fish are all contaminated with mercury according to the findings by the PETA.
West Bengal has one of the largest fish markets in the country and the state has earned over Rs.300 crores in foreign exchange last year through fish exports. India is also the third largest producer of fish totaling a production volume of 6.3 million tones. The popular varieties like Hilsa, Tangra and Bhetki are the worst affected. The reason is thought to be the industrial effluents from the various industries in and around the state.  However the government does not seem to be in a hurry to inform the people. The fish vendors are also unwilling to tell the consumers about the problem of contamination. They are dependent on the trade and a decrease in the consumption would lead to a drop in the sales of the fishes. This would affect the trade severely.
The permissible limit of contamination is five micrograms for a 50kg adult; this is according to the US Environment Protection Agency. This is further a concern since most of the samples identified from the markets seem to have higher concentration of the contaminant. Mercury contamination is a very serious issue. All forms of contamination contribute to pollution of the environment. The mercury from a broken thermometer can also be very dangerous. This is a cause or concern as the mercury contamination can result in memory loss, brain disorders and nervous disorders.
Mercury takes a long time to show effects and hence the side effects of mercury contamination cannot be known immediately. This is more of a concern when the consumers are kids as their tolerance level is much lesser than adults. The tolerance of mercuric levels depends upon the weight of the person. Mercury tends to accumulate in the muscles of organisms and is a slow killer.
Apart from industrial effluents that are a major pollutant and source of mercury contamination, teeth fillings, broken tub lights and silver amalgamations are a major source. Official reports say that the annual discharge of mercury is around 300kgs. The toxicity of mercury is so high that this is a very big number and it is to be brought down. Consumers are to be educated about the effects of consuming food that is contaminated with mercury. The metal forms methylated mercury on exposure to the environment and it also settles down in water bodies. This finally enters into the human body through the food chain. Mercury is a killer and it is high time that the government takes steps to curb the issue at it root.

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