It affects the ability to feel, see, taste and move. There can be tingling sensations in the fingers and toes, a numb sensation around the mouth, and tunnel vision. Long-term exposure to mercury can result in symptoms that get progressively worse and lead to personality changes, stupor and coma. Women who expect to become pregnant or are pregnant should not eat mercury-contaminated fish. Mercury affects fetal development, preventing the brain and nervous system from developing normally.
Affected children show lowered intelligence, impaired hearing and poor coordination.
Their verbal and motor skills may be delayed. Mercury in their diets can cause early death, weight loss, and problems with their ability to reproduce. Unfortunately, wildlife cannot read fish advisories or change their eating habits in order to avoid mercury contamination. Once in a lake or river, mercury is converted to methylmercury by bacteria and other processes. Fish absorb methylmercury from their food and from water as it passes over their gills.