Bio-ecological Stress: Mercury Rising

By February 10, 2010Uncategorized

Having just watched the documentary movie, THE COVE (a movie I highly recommend everyone watch), I was inspired to watch some of the DVD extras afterward. One special feature was a short movie called “Mercury Rising.” During the making of THE COVE, the filmmakers learned that officials in Japan, who are the equivalent of our EPA officials, would NOT eat sushi, due to the extremely high amounts of mercury in the fish (imagine, Japanese NOT eating sushi!!!) Where does the mercury come from, you ask? It’s a by-product from burning coal. Over 70% of the electricity in this country comes from burning coal (lights, Ipods, computers, plasma televisions, etc.). Mercury, via exhaust, makes its way into the atmosphere and eventually falls into the sea, via rain. Bottom feeders consume this mercury, and it works its way up the food chain. Tuna, apparently, is near the top of the seafood food chain, and when we eat tuna (because we are at the top), we inadvertently consume this mercury, as well. You may have heard that mercury is bad for pregnant women, but here is the real news. IT’S BAD FOR EVERYONE! It’s not just ocean fish; fresh water fish (e.g., trout) in Colorado’s waters measure high in mercury too). Mercury consumption destroys neural tissue (I’ll let you figure out rest of the dots to connect, but needless to say all of this results in stress, specifically bio-ecological stress)!

• Stress Tip of the Day
The next time you are in your doctor’s office, consider having a blood test done to measure the amount of mercury in YOUR body (it can also be done with hair samples). If it’s high, you might wish to consider cutting back on food sources that contains mercury (cold water fish, but perhaps all types of sea food. Recent news in Colorado stated that lake trout also have high levels of mercury). Mercury is known to destroy neural tissue, correlated to several aspects of mental thought processing! Also, please consider watching the movie, THE COVE and the special features on the DVD as well. Consider also demanding higher EPA regulations on coal burning in your locale (these were relaxed nation-wide during the 8 years of George W’s administration).

• Links Worth Noting:
Don’t take my word for it. Here…please read for yourself.. three links:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100205/hl_hsn/testsshowtoptunabrandshavehighmercurylevels

http://www.pbs.org/now/science/mercuryinfish.html

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/tuna-mercury-47050102

• Photo of the Day:
As many of you may know, the dolphin is my logo symbol for my company, Inspiration Unlimited. Watching the movie THE COVE, about the Japanese slaughter of thousands of dolphins each year (after selecting the best for ‘pets” in places like SeaWorld and other swim with the captive dolphin programs, etc.), was heart wrenching. This photo of a spinner dolphin was taken off the shores of Kauai last winter. Spinner Dolphins jump out of the water and spin, sometimes several rotations before reentering the water. It’s pretty cool to watch…in nature. Let’s hope future generations will always be able to see these creatures in the wild.

• Quote for the Day:
“If you are not an (environmental) activist, you’re an inactivist!”
—Louie Psihoyos, Filmmaker, THE COVE

“If you’re not upset about the state of the world’s environment, you’re not paying attention.” — bumper-sticker seen in Boulder, CO

Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body-spirit healing and stress and human spirituality. He is the author of over 10 books including the bestsellers, Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water, Stressed Is Desserts Spelled Backward, The Art of Calm, Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart and Managing Stress (6E). He can be reached through his website:www.brianlukeseaward.net

© Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.

Brian Luke Seaward

Author Brian Luke Seaward

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