The Cove Documentary Analysis

Jasmine Mann
English 1100
Elizabeth Gooding
November 26,2013
The Truth: Mercury’s Impact on Human Health The Cove is an academy award-winning documentary; it informs the public about the increase in dolphin slaughter taking place in Taiji, Japan. Directed by Louie Psihoyos, they expose the massacre of thousands of dolphins annually. The Japanese authorities are seen to be supporting the slaughter of this species by all means. A group of volunteers conducted by animal rights activist Ric O’Barry make their way over to Taiji, Japan in hopes of exposing this annual massacre. However, they aren’t only looking at the health and well-being of the dolphins, they are also considering the health of humanity. They begin in exposing dangerous levels
of mercury found in the dolphin meat, which is sold in the local Japanese shops. These dolphins are killed, put into shops and readily available for individuals to buy and therefore consume. The levels of mercury that are found in the meat are deemed to be extremely toxic. The Cove doesn’t illustrate which levels of mercury in particular are unsafe; they also don’t explain how exactly it affects our health. They simply give us brief ideas of possible conclusions that mercury can have on the human body. Mercury is discussed as being a toxic element; I will therefore be investigating the impact that mercury possesses on human health and considering precautions to take in order to minimize consumption of mercury.

Mercury is a naturally occurring heavy metal that enters the environment, it is known as the “most toxic non-radioactive element on earth” (OPS). It is found in multiple forms, which include the following: “ elementary mercury metal, inorganic mercury salt and organometallic mercury” (Langford and Ferner 1). These forms of mercury all acquire “substantial differences in toxicity” (Langford and Ferner 1). Among all three of the organic forms, “elemental mercury metal also known as methylmercury, is the primary concern in regard to human exposure” (Trust). According to Environmental Protection Agency the factors that determine the health effects in which methylmercury has depends on: “dose, age of the person exposed, and route of exposure” (Trust). Dose refers to the amount or level of mercury being ingested, where higher the level, higher the impact. When referring to age, younger individuals are affected by mercury poison with the highest risk (Trust). These factors have great impact on one another. One big factor would be women who are pregnant. They are highly impacted by the poison as it passes on to the fetus therefore newborns are most likely to be born with a birth defect. This will be explained again further in the essay.

As mentioned before, consumption of fish is the most significant source of mercury exposure. Mercury exposure may occur “from breathing contaminated air, eating foods that have mercury residue during processing, or from exposure to mercury vapor” (OPS). Japan has foods that contain some of the highest levels of mercury; these levels as tested by Dr. Endo exceed 20 times the acceptable amount that was set by the Japanese health standards (Bennasir and Sridhar 3). These levels should not be consumed by anyone under any circumstances; however, the Japanese whale industry is continuing to make this a recurring problem (Langford and Ferner 2). Furthermore, “coal-fired power plants emit about half of atmospheric mercury” (Bennasir and Sridhar). These factors need to be taken into consideration when putting the whale meat in shops for consumers to purchase. Most vendors aren’t looking out for the well-being of society; they only look out for their best interest, which is evidently marketing sales. All standards of health should have to take into consideration the mercury occurring from combustion of coal, gold production, nonferrous metal production and human crematoria, these factors are rarely taken into account when looking at what is deemed safe for humanity. These multiple ignorance’s are making the impact of mercury poisoning a bigger ordeal (Godiyal).

It has been argued that there are levels of mercury that are assumed to be safe, these levels are a greater proportion of what is naturally found in our body systems.
0.4 parts per million is what has been set as the safe level of mercury level consumption for marine foods, this level has been set by The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Tibbetts 1). Mercury flows into bodies of water on a daily basis, the bacteria in water then converts the basic mercury to methylmercury (Trust). Soon after “bioaccumulation” occurs, this is the food chain process where for example “a couple of small forage [fishes] are consumed by a predatory fish” (Trust). The levels of mercury multiply drastically when moving up the food chain. Tibbetts suggests, “the highest concentrations of methylmercury [to be] generally found in large fish that eat other fish” (2). This is why the larger whales contain the highest amounts of mercury and should therefore be avoided as much as possible. The exposure of mercury levels is found to be far larger then what has been set as safe by The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. King Mackerel, Swordfish, Tilefish and Dolphin are found to contain the highest levels of mercury (Hassen 2). Environmental Protection Agency (Trust) strictly emphasizes that these meats be avoided to the greatest ability. However, EPA does recommend more appropriate substitutes, which include Salmon, Crayfish and Mullet. It is however, important that these
varying substitutes not be ingested immoderately.

Consumption of fish and seafood alike is the principal and obvious way in which people get mercury poisoning (Tibbetts 1). Despite the fact that high levels of mercury aren’t recommended, individuals are still consuming them. The consumption of these levels of mercury have intense effects to the body organs. High levels of mercury can “permanently damage the brain and kidneys” (Godiyal 2). Mercury poison can result from a single sitting of consumption of seafood, which can contain dangerous levels of the substance (Tibbetts 1). These levels can cause effects so drastic such as “nervous system symptoms, staggering coma and death.” (Tibbetts 1). Environmental Protection Agency states that mercury has its greatest effect to fetuses during pregnancy. They also mention that “women who have been exposed to mercury intakes during pregnancy [to be] higher risk of giving birth to children with serious birth defects”. The birth defect is known as a congenital disorder (Langford and Ferner 2). The differences in tissue distribution make the effect of mercury different for each stage in life (Godiyal 2). With that being said, there was a tragedy that occurred in Minamata Bay. The tragedy witnessed thousands of deaths from harming of mercury. This tragedy showed that industrial plants and meats are the most sedated source of mercury poisoning. (Langford and Ferner 2).
There is ample evidence that suggests mercury toxicity as being an extremely important factor to consider.
It is important for consumers to consider the toxicity of mercury when purchasing or even eating seafood. Health concerns should be “a major reason motivating individuals to limit their consumption of [mercury based products]” (Fox and Ward 188). Many articles proposed that mercury toxicity is associated with changes in brain, kidney and nervous system damage. It is recommended that consumption of mercury be minimized as much as possible, whenever practical. Mercury “multiplies drastically on every step of the food chain” (OPS), which means that one may not even realize how much mercury is found in particular meat when purchasing, the labels cannot be trusted. In addition, cerebral Palsy and mental retardation are only a few of the effects that mercury toxicity includes (OPS). Consuming seafood is the primary route of being exposed to toxic levels of mercury. Laying out the truth of the effects that mercury possesses should diminish the tragedies that occur in relation to mercury, a violent element. The pollution of mercury is a worldwide problem; therefore mercury contamination has to become extinct by each country alone in order to be
successful.

References:

Bennasir, Hassen A. H., and Shanmugam Sridhar. "Health Hazards Due to Heavy
Metal Poisoning and other Factors in Sea Foods." International Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review & Research 18.2 (2013): 33-37. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Fox , Nick , and Katie Ward . "Health, Ethics and Environment: A Qualitative Study of Vegetarian Motivations." Becoming an Active Reader: A complete Resource for
Reading and Writing. Don Mills, Ont.: OUP Canada, 2013. 188. Print.

Godiyal, Sandeep, “Higher Mercury Levels Increase Risk of Diabetes.” NaturalNews. n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Langford, NJ, and RE Ferner. "Toxicity of Mercury." Journal of Human Hypertension 13.10 (1999): 651. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Oceanic, Preservation Society . "OPS: The Hard Truths of Mercury Poisoning." OPS: The Hard Truths of Mercury Poisoning. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

The Cove. Dir. Louie Psihoyos. Perf. Ric O 'Barry et Al.. Lions Gate Home Entertainment ;, 2009. DVD.

Tibbetts, John. "Mercury in Japan 's Whale Meat." Environmental Health Perspectives
111.14 (2003): A752-753. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Trust, J. “Health Effects.” EPA. n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013