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The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a comprehensive study of mercury contamination in the U.S. from 1998 to 2005. The USGS released the results of that study on Wednesday, August 19th. They report finding mercury contamination in every fish tested at nearly 300 streams across the country.

Scientists collected and tested more than a thousand fish from 291 streams nationwide. While all fish had traces of mercury contamination, only about a quarter had levels exceeding what the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for people eating average amounts of fish.
Atmospheric mercury is the main source to most of these streams — coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in the United States —in addition, 59 of the streams also were potentially affected by gold and mercury mining.

In the US, 48 of 50 States have fish consumption advisories for mercury. There are no advisories for the states of Wyoming or Hawaii.

Click on the links below for more information about the U.S. Geological Survey mercury study.

Related Links:
http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/mercury/ U.S. Geological Survey
Mercury in Aquatic Systems August 21, 2009, PDF
National Listing of Fish Advisories