by Briana Bermensolo
SANTA CRUZ- An in-depth study by one local scientists suggests there are high levels of mercury in Central Coast fog.
University of California Santa Cruz Professor Peter Weiss-Penzias spent the past year and a half trying to do what he said hasn't been documented yet: study mercury levels in fog.
The environmental toxicologist used a fog collector along the Central Coast, including Moss Landing and Monterey Bay.
"Which is basically like a vacuum attached to some strings so the droplets can collect and drip into a sample jar," said scientist Peter Weiss-Penzias.
Methyl mercury is the same element that's showing up in high levels in some seafood.
Weiss said it gets into the atmosphere through industrial work like gold mining and coal combustion.
"When Mercury is just locked up in a rock, it's not very dangerous to ecosystems. But when it becomes liberated and travels in the atmosphere, and it comes down in rain or fog, then it becomes a concern," said Weiss-Penzias.
While he did find high levels of Mercury by scientific standards, Weiss said the levels are still so low you don't have to worry about the air you're breathing.
"Typically, in a can of tuna, you'll have 100,000 times more mercury than you would in the atmosphere," said Weiss.
Weiss-Penzias and his team published their findings in the Geophysical Research Letters in February 2012. He is hoping for additional funding for continued research.
