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Mercury in newborns likely from mothers eating contaminated fish

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Fetuses, newborns and infants are most at risk for mercury exposure, and a sampling of newborns in the Lake Superior basin showed 8 percent of them testing above safe levels. The study, conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health from 2008 to 2010, tested 1,465 newborns living in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota for mercury. The 8 percent testing above safe levels had methylmercury in them, the kind from fish. Even small amounts of mercury can hurt infants’ developing brain and nervous system. Babies born in warm months were more likely to have higher levels, which, when coupled with the methymercury findings, suggest that fish consumption is the culprit.

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No Impact project inspires sustainable living

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Imagine if you could cause no environmental impact. I’m not talking about recycling a few bottles here and there. I’m talking about no transportation, no plastic, no trash, no meat, no new things, no take-out food and no electricity. Colin Beavan imagined what it would be like as well, and along with his wife Michelle and 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, he turned it into reality. In the 2009 documentary “No Impact Man,” Beavan and his family lived a “no impact” lifestyle in New York City for a year.

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Occupy Planets: Environmental Footprints and Sustainability

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There are 7 billion people in the world. In the past dozen years the Earth’s population has grown by about 1 billion. If all 7 billion lived like the average United States resident, how many planets do you think we’d need? I asked that question of 10 classmates at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Most said their environmental footprint would be about average.

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Does warm winter warrant hybrid sports gear? Check out the Snourfboard

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It’s been a weird winter in the Great Lakes region. We’ve had warm temperatures, almost no snow and I’ve even seen the sun in February. Although not having to shovel the driveway is nice, I have had a very disappointing cross-country ski season. Maybe it’s time to invest in more versatile winter sporting equipment. Take, for example, the Snourfboard.

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Help scientists track disease with Wildlife Health Event Reporter

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If scouring the shoreline for dead birds is one of your favorite pastimes, there’s a citizen science project just for you. Beachcombers around the basin can help scientists track potential outbreaks of a disease caused by a dangerous toxin, avian botulism, using the Wildlife Health Event Reporter. “What we’re trying to do is broaden the core of people who are looking for things,” said Joshua Dein, wildlife veterinarian with the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis. “Often what we find is when you have five or 10 dead animals in one spot it gets people’s attention. Where we don’t have a lot of information is dead animals in ones and twos, which may be just as significant.”

The Wildlife Data Integration Network, a partnership between the National Wildlife Health Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, put together the Wildlife Health Event Reporter.