Mercury, a neurotoxin which poses dire life-long risks to developing fetuses and children, has been detected at dangerous and abnormal levels in the blood of women in over 25 countries worldwide. Excessive mercury levels are tied in large part to emissions from coal plants and leaching from mining operations, such as gold-mining. Most dire levels are found in the bodies of women from island nations, including Indonesia, due in large part to direct and daily reliance on eating contaminated fish. Photo credit: Edgard Garrido/Reuters
