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Utah water quality data released Tuesday to The Salt Lake Tribune show that four fish taken from state waterways and analyzed by the Environmental Protection Agency contained mercury levels exceeding federal standards.

Walt Baker, Utah Division of Water Quality director, said the fish - two brown trout caught in Mill Creek near Moab, a channel catfish from the Green River in Uintah County and a largemouth bass from Gunlock Reservoir in Washington County - were among 170 taken from 31 state streams, lakes and reservoirs during 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Four fish aren't enough for environmental protection officials to draw any conclusions on the effects airborne mercury emissions may be having on Utah or its residents. But the Water Quality division is ready to start developing the routine scientific testing protocols that would help health officials decide whether to issue mercury-related fish consumption advisories here. "We're gearing up to do that," Baker said.

Mercury and other toxins, including arsenic and PCBs, have led to widespread fish consumption advisories in other parts of the country. About a third of all lake waters, a quarter of all river miles and 75 percent of the nation's coastlines are now under advisory. In Utah, two creeks are under advisory for arsenic.

All of the fish Utah sent to the EPA for analysis were found to have mercury in their tissues. But except for the four and two others that approached the benchmark, all were well below the federal standard.

The weights of the fish and the month in which they were caught - important because mercury "bioaccumulation" relates to how long the fish may have been feeding on other mercury-tainted organisms - were not included in the released information.

The fish were collected for a regional EPA research project aimed at gathering data to improve scientific understanding of ecosystems. Mercury testing is just one component of that sampling.

The state collected another 109 fish in 2003 and 2004. Baker said the EPA will have those samples assessed by fall.

Mercury, a neurotoxin, occurs naturally in the environment but also has been introduced through human activity, particularly through coal-fired electric power plants and mining. Gold mines in northeastern Nevada, upwind of Salt Lake City, have reported releasing large amounts of mercury.

Methylmercury, the element's organic form, collects in the tissues of fish. Mercury consumption has been linked to neurological and kidney disease, learning disabilities and death in people. Preliminary estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control say that one in six women in the United States has dangerous levels of mercury in her blood. If accurate, that means more than 600,000 infants each year are at risk of nervous-system damage, cerebral palsy and mental retardation.

The state Department of Environmental Quality hopes soon to buy mercury analysis equipment for the state lab, Baker said. After that, the Water Quality division can begin the rule-making process for mercury testing, which will involve public hearings and a formal request to the state Water Quality Board. The testing program could be in place by next spring.

The main reason the state hasn't already set up protocols is because officials haven't seen evidence it was necessary. "If you're a coastal state, or around the Great Lakes, it's more of an issue," Baker said. "We haven't felt an urgency to jump into this."

But because the trout from Mill Creek exceeded the federal standard of 0.3 micrograms per gram of body weight by an average of 27 percent, Baker said he would order further testing from that creek.

"We're going to take more samples there. And we won't wait until we get all the rules [in place]," he said. "If we're going to err, we're going to err on the side of caution."

Tim Wagner, the Utah Sierra Club's Smart Energy Campaign director and an opponent of new coal-fired power plants in Utah, said he welcomed Baker's decision to make the mercury analyses public.

"We're in a pretty good position. Let's do all we can to make sure it doesn't get any worse," Wagner said.