杏吧原创

IN 2000, a doctor in San Francisco saw a stream of patients with odd and confusing symptoms, such as fatigue, stomach upset, loss of hair, trouble concentrating and memory problems. She soon discovered that they all had something in common: they all ate lots of big fish, like tuna and swordfish. So she tested them for mercury, and found their levels were elevated. She advised them to stop eating the fish and soon the mercury, and most of their symptoms, disappeared. Most doctors would have called it a day.

didn鈥檛. She wanted to know why she could not get clear official guidance telling her what levels of mercury are dangerous, and what is safe to eat. The espoused a safe limit for mercury in fish that was four times that given by the . So began a voyage of discovery that led this idealistic physician into the murky waters of corporate cover-ups and conflicting science, bemused colleagues and corrupt officials, mass poisonings and what may be a widespread but obstinately unrecognised problem for ordinary consumers. She relates that voyage, and the surprising history of mercury, crisply and, for the most part, clearly in .

I defy anyone not to be angry by the end of this book. The majority of mercury in the environment comes from coal-fired power plants, and most human exposure is from fish. That pits two powerful industries against anyone who attempts to ask why some people get sick from mercury levels deemed safe even by the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, the WHO鈥檚 鈥渟afe鈥� levels are apparently based on misrepresented data from a mass poisoning in 1971 in Iraq (possibly abetted by Saddam Hussein). I鈥檝e written about mercury toxicology, and I didn鈥檛 know that. I found even more surprises in Hightower鈥檚 accounts of infamous industrial poisonings, such as those in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s and Ontario, Canada, in the 1970s.

鈥淚 defy anyone not to be angry by the end of this book鈥�

Today we are told to eat fish for 鈥渉eart-healthy鈥� omega-3 fatty acids, but not told that if we eat enough of it 鈥� and 鈥渆nough鈥� is not that much for some fish 鈥� the dangers posed by mercury will more than outweigh the benefits. Hightower offers detailed advice on which fish to cut back on.

If the author had started out as an environmental activist, the book would have missed out on this outsider鈥檚 fresh perspective as she discovers how powerful and wealthy industries can sway scientists, agencies and politicians 鈥� even at the highest level in the US 鈥� and cover up mass poisoning. But the truth, as they say, is out there. 杏吧原创s funded by industry initially concluded that mercury is safe up to higher levels than those found by scientists not funded by industry. Now, however, these camps are starting to agree. Their results imply tougher restrictions on mercury are needed. Getting them will be another story. Hightower鈥檚 voyage is not over.