Perceptions of recreational fishing boat captains: knowledge and effects of fish consumption advisories

Mercury exposure and children's health

Acute or chronic mercury exposure can cause adverse effects during any period of development. Mercury is a highly toxic element; there is no known safe level of exposure. Ideally, neither children nor adults should have any mercury in their bodies because it provides no physiological benefit. Prenatal and postnatal mercury exposures occur frequently in many different ways. Pediatricians, nurses, and other health care providers should understand the scope of mercury exposures and health problems among children and be prepared to handle mercury exposures in medical practice. Prevention is the key to reducing mercury poisoning. Mercury exists in different chemical forms: elemental (or metallic), inorganic, and organic (methylmercury and ethyl mercury). Mercury exposure can cause acute and chronic intoxication at low levels of exposure. Mercury is neuro-, nephro-, and immunotoxic. The development of the child in utero and early in life is at particular risk. Mercury is ubiquitous and persistent. Mercury is a global pollutant, bio-accumulating, mainly through the aquatic food chain, resulting in a serious health hazard for children. This article provides an extensive review of mercury exposure and children's health.

Factors influencing acquisition of ecological and exposure information about hazards and risks from contaminated sites

Considerable research indicates that a wide range of socio-economic factors influence attitudes and perceptions about environmental hazards and risks, and that social trust in those who manage a hazard is strongly correlated to judgements about risks and benefits. We suggest that there are three steps that lead to environmental risk perceptions: acquisition of information, interpretation and synthesis of different pieces of information, and understanding of that information in light of previous knowledge, perceptions, or attitudes. In this study we presented 211 college students in the sciences and non-sciences with ecological and exposure information using text, tables and maps to examine the factors that affect information acquisition and interpretation concerning ecological issues at a fictitious hazardous waste site. Students were allowed about an hour to read the materials and answer questions. The percent of students answering each question correctly varied from 4 to 82%, indicating that some questions were extremely difficult to answer. We attributed these differences to variations in the number of places information was presented (in text, tables, maps, or a combination) and the complexity of the information (how many pieces of information were required to answer the question correctly). The correlation between the number of students answering each question correctly and these combined measures (frequency, complexity) was -0.72. Thus, although there were differences in accuracy concerning ecological information as presented in this study, the major differences were accounted for by how the information was presented, and how much information was required. This suggests that risk communicators should carefully determine which ecological information is critical for the target audience, and ensure that it is presented several times (in different forms). That a lower percentage of people correctly answered questions that required synthesizing several pieces of information suggests that this complexity should be reduced where possible, or that the pieces of information should be tied clearly to the conclusion. Self-declaration of effort and perceptions of safety of the site did not markedly influence the relationship between accuracy, difficulty of finding information, and complexity of information. Other possible confounding variables (i.e., science vs non-science major) only accounted for about 27% of the variation in student's overall score on ecological questions; age, ethnicity, and gender did not enter as significant variables. We cannot manage environmental hazards with appropriate stakeholder input unless we understand how to present environmental information to achieve a full understanding. Protection of human health and the environment requires that people understand ecological and exposure information, particularly on buffer lands.

A framework and information needs for the management of the risks from consumption of self-caught fish

Governmental agencies deal with the potential risk from consuming fish contaminated with toxic chemicals by issuing fish consumption advisories. Yet such advisories are often ignored by the general public, who continue to fish and consume self-caught fish that are the subject of advisories and are from contaminated waters. Further, people are often unaware of specific warnings (which species to avoid, who is vulnerable, when they are vulnerable). In this paper we propose a more inclusive framework for examining consumption behavior of self-caught fish and identify information needs for effective communication. We include not only the usual variables that are used for calculating risk from fish consumption (meal frequency, meal size, contaminant levels) but also other aspects of behavior that contribute to risk. These include attitudes (trust, risk aversion, environmental concerns), behavior (sources of information, cultural mores, personal preferences), exposure (physical proximity, ingestion rates, bioavailability, target tissues), contaminant levels, individual host differences, and hazards (levels of contaminants). We suggest that attitudes and behavior shape risk as much as exposure and hazards and that all four of these factors must be considered in risk management. Factors such as gender, age, pregnancy status, and nutrition all influence who is at risk, while other consumption factors affect these at-risk populations, including meals/week, meal size, cooking method, fish species and sizes eaten, and years of fish consumption. Similarly, contaminant levels in fish vary by fish species, fish size and age, part of the fish, and collection location. Elucidating the risk to individual consumers involves integrating this range of factors, and managing the risk likewise involves incorporating these factors. We suggest that development of appropriate advisories and compliance with advisories will occur only if managers, risk assessors, and public policy makers consider this whole range of factors and not just the traditional fish consumption rate (often underestimated) and contaminant levels in fish (often undersampled). Merely informing the public of contaminant levels or the risk from contaminants will not ensure a public that has enough information to make informed decision, or to be in compliance with consumption advisories, or to effect changes in consumption behavior where public health is at risk.