Life's Abundance Premium Health Food for Dogs and Cats contains "fish meal" taken exclusively from "farmed" fish. Dr. Jane Bicks, the formulator of the pet food, is concerned about pollution that might contaminate ocean fish - such as mercury.

The August 7th issue of the Courier-Journal contains an article talking about mercury found in bats at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. This article caught my attention because I wondered where cave animals like bats can get mercury in their environment.

This is how mercury ends up in bats in the cave:

1. Mercury from coal-fired power plants and other sources are emitted into the air and then fall to the ground and river.
2. Mercury is converted by bacteria into methyl mercury (the most toxic form of mercury).
3. Methyl mercury accumulates in microscopic plants (plankton) in water.
4. The tiny plankton, in turn, is eaten by bigger plankton, which in turn is eaten by bigger insects.
5. Bats, in turn, eat these insects.
6. The mercury accumulates in bats' bodies because they can eat their body weight in one evening due to their high metabolic rate.

The case of bats in Mammoth Cave is, without doubt, just one example of how pollutants can work their way up the food chain.

For more information about coal-fired power plants and their mercury emissions, you can visit this site: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs095-01

You can also visit this website: http://www.oceansalive.org/home.cfm
They feature information about seafood, human health, and environmental topics -- including a list of the best and worst seafood selections.


I'm from a country where people eat fish as a staple. I grew up eating a variety of sea foods without questioning what pollutants might be in such foods. I'm going to be more careful about sea food consumption in the future!