A child abuse fatality occurs when a child's death is the result of abuse or neglect, or when abuse and/or neglect are contributing factors to a child's death. In the United States, 1,730 children died in 2008 due to factors related to abuse; this is a rate of 2 per 100,000 U.S. children.
The kind of mercury that accumulates to toxic levels in fish is called monomethylmercury, or simply methylmercury, because it has a methyl group, CH3, attached to the mercury atom. The problem is that we donât know where methylmercury comes from.
Mercury is very toxic. It is mostly known as a neurotoxin, meaning that it harms the brain and nervous system. However, mercury is also linked to kidney and liver damage and possibly cancer. Children are especially at risk because of their brains and bodies are still developing.