The following web sites provide additional information linked to the topics in the SATIS Revisited unit gold rush.

The report entitled Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish in a Region Affected by Historic Gold Mining: The South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River Watersheds, California, 1999 by Jason T. May, Roger L. Hothem, Charles N. Alpers, and Matthew A. Law is available on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website, at:

http://ca.water.usgs.gov/mercury

Follow ‘Bear-Yuba’ link at the bottom of the page, and then click on ‘Mercury in Fish Report’ in the list of links on the right-hand side.

Alternatively, these URLs take you directly to the report:

http://ca.water.usgs.gov/archive/reports/ofr00367/index.html
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/archive/reports/ofr00367/ofr00367.pdf

A useful fact sheet entitled Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in California is available at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3014/

Details of the screening value and FDA action level for mercury in fish can be found at:

www.deq.utah.gov/Issues/Mercury/docs/EPAvsFDAactiion_levels_050307.pdf

For details about how safe limits of substances are calculated, see the SATIS Revisited unit called Pesticides and food, at:

www.satisrevisited.co.uk/pesticides.asp

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