How Mercury In This Fog May Soon Affect California’s Food Chain

There’s a fog sweeping over the coasts of northern California and Oregon. While fog’s not uncommon around these parts, there’s something a little more sinister about this fog. Popular Science says that this fog contains a form of mercury.

A team of scientists from UC Santa Cruz discovered this and has tested the fog extensively. Classified as monomethylmercury, the fog isn’t really harmful to humans. However, the mercury levels was discovered to be 19 times higher in the fog than it was in rain around the same area.

Spiders in the area have been studied and have shown mercury levels higher than the Food and Drug Administration limit.

So why does a fog containing mercury that’s affecting spiders matter to us?

Turns out lots of animals eat those highly toxic spiders and it works itself up the food chain. Birds and other woodland creatures will eventually eat them and introduce the concentrated monomethylmercury to the food chain.

Eventually us humans are gonna eat one of those mercury-tainted animals and get sick.

Mercury poisoning can affect the heart, brain, lungs, kidneys and immune system in humans.