This week an alarming sounding research article was spread in the usual media (news and science outlets) and on Facebook! As usual, the gullible authors totally uncritically regurgitated the news.
We are inundated with such scary introductions like “Add another item to the ever-growing list of the dangerous impacts of global climate change: ” (S4)
These articles are huge baloney. The underlying scientific article (S3) is most likely junk science or deeply flawed science:
Articles like S1, S2, and S4 do not mention the amount of HG found in the sampled fish, they only talk about percentage increases. Using percentage increases is a very old technique of statistical manipulation!
One of the articles (S2) at least reproduces a chart from the underlying scientific article (S3) showing an increase in methylmercury (MeHG) from roughly 750 to 1000 nanogram per gram. The preview of S3 displays two charts showing tissue methylmercury of roughly between 70 and 150 nanogram per gram for one fish species and between 0 and 130 nanograms per gram
None of the articles (cannot confirm S3) mentions whether the minuscule nanogram amounts found in sampled fish is even hazardous for human consumption or the food chain
The underlying scientific article (S3) heavily relies on model simulations not on hard facts and measurements. We know how easily such models are manipulated for fame and money. My impression is that these model simulations are based on correlations, most likely without proving causation.
One of the hypotheses the researchers offered why the mercury in these fish were increasing is that due to the warming ocean these fish would consume more calories (food) like “Michael Phelps”. I am not kidding! If this is not junk science, what is! (S1)
None of the blaring, alarming headlines mentions that the study had an extremely narrow focus, which basically prohibits any generalization! “The researchers analyzed 30 years of ecosystem data from the Gulf of Maine, including an extensive analysis of the stomach contents of two marine predators, Atlantic cod and spiny dogfish, from the 1970s to 2000s.” (S1)
What are the affiliations of these researchers: “Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University; Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University; … ; Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St Andrews Biological Station”
Sources (S):
- Mercury levels in fish are on the rise (8/7/2019; Harvard Gazette)
- Climate change and overfishing increase neurotoxicant in marine predators (8/7/2019; original article in Nature; preview only, behind paywall)
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