Eating fish contaminated with mercury can cause serious health problems. Mercury contamination from historic gold mining operations is fairly common in sediments of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs today. A study was conducted on Lake Natoma in California to determine if the mercury concentration in fish in the lake exceeded guidelines for safe human consumption. A sample of 83 largemouth bass was collected and the concentration of mercury
from sample tissue was measured. Mercury concentration is measured in micrograms of mercury per gram or μg/g. The histogram in Figure 4.8 presents results from this study.