Paper Palate

The Hudson River has been the site of numerous contamination issues over the years including PCBs. As a child growing up, the river itself became a symbol for dirty, grimy and just generally undesirable water. You didn’t swim there, let alone eat something from it. It was just understood to be that way.

Fast forward more years than I care to admit . . .

The New York Times this week has a story about fish in the river and the people who persist in eating them despite warnings of contamination.

“We’ve been coming here to get our fish for many years, and it’s been great,” said Miguel Tejada, holding a sleek fishing rod in his hands as his wife and two small children looked on. “I have heard people say that you should not eat the fish here too much, that the fish are not safe. But I’m not really worried.”

For years, state health officials have warned that because of mercury and PCB contamination, women of childbearing age and children under 15 should not eat any fish from the Hudson River, and other people should do so only sparingly. Studies and surveys have nonetheless found that many people are either unaware of those warnings or, like Mr. Tejada, simply ignore them.

But scientists are finding that the consequences for those who turn a blind eye are hard to overlook. An examination of 124 anglers at a half-dozen piers and fishing clubs along the lower Hudson River found that those who reported eating locally caught fish — about 80 percent of the group — had about twice as much mercury in their blood as the others, according to a recently released study.

I had to hunt around a bit to find out what effects mercury exposure can have on a person and it seems that it causes a variety of disturbances like sleeping problems, drowsiness and impaired memory.