What do we know about health affects on humans who come into contact with the Inner Harbor?
The Harbor is not swimmable or fishable, and you certainly wouldn’t drink from it. Fish are contaminated with mercury and advisory warnings from the Maryland Department of the Environment are posted throughout the Harbor. Contact with marine life may bring about infection from pathogenic organisms found on the “slime” of the fish. Washing hands after contact with harbor water and before contact with food can help prevent infection. It has been proposed that we start monitoring Public Health Indicators, very similar to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s State of the Bay Report. To do so, we will need more research to help in developing better indicators that measure the risks to human health.
