A new study is raising the alarm about mercury contamination in areas of Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The three-year study suggests mercury is more pervasive in the environment than originally thought and tends to build up in wetlands. The joint U.S.-Canada study found mercury in the blood and features of woodland songbirds.




Scientists had originally thought mercury built up in lakes and other water bodies. Coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of contamination, sending emissions into the air, which drift along air currents and fall.

Three Canadian mercury "hot spots" are:

  • Central Nova Scotia.
  • Kejimkujik National Park, N.S.
  • The Mauricie region of Quebec, between Montreal and Quebec City.

The pollutant builds up in fish and marine animals. It can be absorbed through eating fish and can damage the brain development of children exposed through their mothers' blood. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include fatigue, memory loss and nausea.

"The environment in certain areas conspires to concentrate [mercury]," Tom Clair of Environment Canada told the Canadian Press.

Clair said the mercury is probably absorbed by insects, which are eaten by the birds.

Loons in Kejimkujik park had the highest mercury concentrations in eastern North America.

The study is being released as the U.S. and Canada are preparing new standards on coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury in the emissions.