Mercury, Industry and Fish
Hg, the symbol for mercury. Atomic number 80. It is quicksilver, a metal that is liquid at room temperature, in fact it is liquid at -37.966 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also extremely toxic to human beings, hence the good old Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Hatters (hat makers) used to make hats out of felt and they would coat the hats with mercury to give it a nice sheen, hence they all eventually went insane. Symptoms of mercury poisoning range from pneumonia without any microorganism to blame, numbness in toes or fingertips (from small amounts of exposure), Insanity, paralysis, Short-term, limited contact with mercury can cause acute symptoms such as bleeding gums, vomiting, and stomach pain. Mercury poisoning is potentially fatal and can cause irreversible brain, liver, and kidney damage. Because it is difficult for the body to eliminate, mercury acts as a cumulative poison; it can eventually accumulate in the body to dangerous levels. Chronic mercury poisoning occurs when small amounts of the metal or its fat-soluble salts, particularly methyl mercury, are repeatedly ingested, either orally or by absorption through the skin, over a long period of time. Basically mercury corrodes (eats through) your cell walls and fucks up whatever it comes in contact with.
Ok, I'm done with the science lesson, I know you are wanting to know, what it is I am getting at and why it pisses me off. Here we go. Good old industry: manufacturing of electronics, scientific research equipment, water purification equipment, UV lamps, thermometers, barometers, batteries, and the production of aluminum. It used to be used in dentistry, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. All of this mercury that was created in excess or turned into mercury salts went somewhere after it was done being used. A lot of it was dumped into rivers, which flowed into the ocean. I'm blaming The United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Japan, China and Europe for most of this. Anyway, here's why I care.
I like sushi, I like it more than I like most people. Fish is supposed to be healthy, but now because of all these asshole countries that would rather make a buck than let me fully enjoy my sushi, I cannot fully enjoy my damn sushi! Because when I have a tuna, I know there is plenty of mercury in there, and same with salmon and every other fucking fish that lived in salty water. The mercury content of all of our oceans it so ridiculous it simply makes me angry. Back to the point at hand. Then to correct their years of mistakes what I ask does the FDA suggest be done about the issue of fish, which I might add is supposed to be the healthiest of the animals to eat. They say, don't eat it. They aren't trying to fix it or even really stop further mercury pollution, they want me to eat less fish.
Do you know what I want? I want to eat my motherfucking salmon and tuna sushi without having to worry that my kidneys will fail, I'll get cirrhosis and I will die of pneumonia just after I've gone insane, and senile at the age of thirty-seven from too much quicksilver.
Now, I am not one to care about the environment, because when I say, "If you ignore the environment it will go away." I mean it more in the, "It is an annoyance so get rid of it," sense of the phrase. But, when it interferes with my eating habits with one of those foods I like to eat anytime I can afford it or someone else is paying, then I will get involved. So give me back the satisfaction of eating sushi you dirty assholes.