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Culture & Politics » soc.culture.china » Mercury In Your Fish
| Mercury In Your Fish [message #225022] |
Fr, 14 Juli 2006 20:25 |
|
By Ken Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group
Fish is beyond compare as a source of many nutrients vital to the developing
infant, some of which may actually enhance development of the nervous system
in babies and young children.
Widespread contamination of fish with toxic mercury, however, has cast a
shadow over the nutritional benefits of fish.
Exposure to mercury in the womb can cause learning deficits, delay the
mental development of children, and cause other neurological problems.
Mercury consumed by a pregnant woman through contaminated fish can cross her
placenta to damage the brain of her baby.
As a National Academy of Sciences panel definitively warned last year, some
children exposed in utero by their mothers' fish consumption are at risk of
falling in the group of children "who have to struggle to keep up in school
and who might require remedial classes of special education."
Combustion in power plants of coal containing mercury is the major source of
environmental pollution.
40 Tons of Mercury are released into the US EVERY year by this method.
Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants moves through the air, is
deposited in water and finds its way into fish, accumulating especially in
fish that are higher up the food chain. Fish like tuna, sea bass, marlin and
halibut show some of the worst contamination, but dozens of species and
thousands of water bodies have been seriously polluted.
As a result, women who eat a lot of fish during pregnancy, or even as little
as a single serving of a highly contaminated fish, can expose their
developing child to excessive levels of mercury. The toxic metal can cross
the placenta to harm the rapidly developing nervous system, including the
brain.
In this report, EWG researchers for the first time attempt to characterize
just how common such exposures are in the U.S. population, and the
associated risks.
One key to the analysis is a much more refined representation of differences
among women - their size, metabolism of mercury, blood volume, and many
other biological variables. Government assessments use "averages" or
constants for all of these factors, missing profound differences across the
population of women of child bearing age.
EWG analysts also assembled the most extensive database ever developed on
mercury levels in various species of fish, drawing on federal, state and
other government sources, some 56,000 records in all.
That exercise revealed major variations in mercury contamination across fish
species, yielding vital, highly practical information women can use while
pregnant to reduce mercury exposure dramatically, while still enjoying the
nutritional benefits of fish.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration came up with its own
list of fish that pregnant and nursing women, along with infants, should
avoid. Based on our analysis of much more extensive fish contamination
records, the list presented in this report is more complete.
By analyzing these two data sources in combination, the study is able to
provide new insights into how women can avoid excessive mercury exposures
during pregnancy.
Researchers at US PIRG Education Fund, co-authors of this study, made
another vital contribution. PIRG painstakingly combed through hundreds of
"fish advisories" issued by state agencies to warn people about mercury
levels in sport and game fish in literally thousands of US lakes and rivers.
What they found is disturbing: while some states are doing a better job than
others, virtually no fish advisories for mercury contamination are
adequately protective of human health when judged against current scientific
knowledge.
The importance of this new understanding about mercury risks was evidenced
in a landmark study on blood levels of mercury and other toxins, released by
the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March, 2001.
While "average" blood mercury levels among women were not of concern, the
data indicate that in fully 10 percent of American women -- roughly 7
million women -- mercury levels were above the dose that may put a fetus at
risk for adverse nervous system effects.
Those women surely don't need more mercury in their system, least of all if
they are already pregnant or nursing. As this report recommends, the
government must start monitoring such exposures, and any possible effects,
much more energetically. This is a simple, common sense matter of public
health.
In the longer term, the solution is to halt mercury pollution from
coal-burning power plants and other sources so the contamination of fish is
avoided in the first place. Fuel switching -- from coal to renewable energy
sources -- along with aggressive deployment of conservation measures, makes
sense for any number of reasons.
Fish free of mercury -- the way they used to be -- is just another one.
Executive Summary
On January 12, 2001, government health officials issued new advisories
warning women to limit fish consumption during pregnancy to avoid exposing
their unborn children to unsafe levels of methylmercury.
Methylmercury can cross the placenta and cause learning deficits and
developmental delays in children who are exposed even to relatively low
levels in the womb. The principal exposure route for the fetus is fish
consumption by the mother.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates commercially sold
fish, recommends that pregnant and nursing women and young children not eat
any shark, swordfish, tilefish, or king mackerel, but then recommends 12
ounces per week of any other fish.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which makes recommendations to
states about safe mercury levels in sport fish, allows up to 8 ounces of any
fish per week for pregnant women with no prohibitions on consumption of any
individual fish caught recreationally.
These restrictions are steps in the right direction, but they need to be
tightened significantly to adequately protect women and their unborn
children from the toxic effects of methylmercury.
The nutritional benefits of fish complicate the task faced by health
officials when protecting the public from methylmercury. Protein, omega-3
fatty acids, Vitamin D, and other nutrients make fish an exceptionally good
food for pregnant mothers and their developing babies.
At the same time, there is no doubt that methylmercury is toxic to the fetal
brain and nervous system, and that many beneficial fish species are
contaminated. EPA's safe exposure estimate for methylmercury has dropped
twice in the past 16 years, as new science has identified adverse effects in
children exposed in the womb at lower and lower doses.
Emerging evidence indicates that the safe dose may drop even lower in the
future (NAS 2000). Just how long a fetus can tolerate a dose of
methylmercury above a "safe level' with no observable adverse effects is a
matter of ongoing debate.
Compounding this uncertainty is the lack of effective education and outreach
to pregnant women about methylmercury risks and the near total absence of
information for pregnant women on the levels of mercury in the fish they
buy. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show
that about 10 percent of all women of childbearing age have blood
methylmercury levels above the dose that may put their fetus at risk for
adverse neurological effects (CDC 2001).
If these women were to increase their consumption of certain fish species in
hopes of benefiting their babies during pregnancy, they could expose their
fetuses to potentially hazardous levels of methylmercury.
FDA's Protections Fall Short
FDA's methylmercury safeguards are designed to protect an average-sized
woman eating an average fish contaminated with an average amount of
methylmercury that decays in her body at an average rate. These assumptions
rarely apply to the risks faced by any individual.
Instead, risks are unevenly distributed throughout the population, with a
small but significant number of pregnancies exposed to far higher and
potentially unsafe levels of methylmercury than the average fetus. The 10
percent most-heavily exposed American women already have blood methylmercury
levels that would increase health risks to their fetuses if they became
pregnant (CDC 2001). FDA's health advisory, based on average exposures, does
little to protect these children.
The Environmental Working Group assessed fetal exposure to methylmercury
taking into account a host of real world differences in individual exposure,
including a mother's body weight and blood volume, varying methylmercury
absorption and distribution rates, and variable rates of methylmercury decay
in different pregnant women (Stern 1997, CDC 2001, NAS 2000).
These biological differences were matched up with a unique database of fish
contamination that contains 56,000 records of methylmercury test results
from seven different government sources. Fish consumption, fish
contamination levels, and biological variables were matched thousands of
times to create a distribution of blood methylmercury levels in women
similar to that occurring in the general population.
This distribution was compared to the benchmark dose of methylmercury
recommended by the Committee on the Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury
of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS 2000).
FDA's recommendation of 76 6-ounce fish meals during pregnancy could
actually be detrimental to the health of unborn children. Fish are an
important part of a healthy diet and women should be encouraged to eat fish
with low methylmercury levels during pregnancy.
But if American women ate a varied diet of FDA's recommended 12 ounces of
fish a week (and none of the four prohibited fish) they would expose more
than one-fourth of all babies born each year (1 million infants) to a
potentially harmful dose of methylmercury for at least one month during
pregnancy.
About 20,000 of these children would be exposed to a dose of methylmercury
that increases the risk of adverse neurological effects for the entire
pregnancy.
The EPA and state fish advisories for sport fish
EPA provides guidance on safe methylmercury exposure levels to state
officials who in turn issue consumption advisories for sport fish caught by
recreational anglers. State authorities typically post fish advisories for
individual water bodies where fish are contaminated with methylmercury at a
level that they deem unsafe for women of childbearing age.
Some states have done a better job than others in protecting their
populations from methylmercury, but an analysis by US PIRG and the State
PIRGs shows that only Massachusetts has adopted health safeguards that
protect all women and children.
The broader issue with recreational fish, however, is whether these
advisories translate into conscious choices by pregnant mothers to avoid
eating contaminated fish. There is a substantial body of evidence indicating
that they do not (Golden et al 2001).
Recommendations
Fish provide important health benefits to the developing fetus, and pregnant
women should be encouraged to eat fish with consistently low methylmercury
levels. With too many species, however, these nutritional pluses are
outweighed by the hazards of methylmercury.
Federal health authorities need to take much stronger steps to protect a far
greater portion of the population. They must move beyond their antiquated
safeguards designed to protect an average woman from an average amount of
methylmercury in fish and take a realistic and protective stance against
dietary exposure to methylmercury.
Fish Advisories
FDA
There are three ways that the FDA methylmercury health advisory must be
improved:
1. The list of fish to avoid during pregnancy must be expanded.
By advising against the consumption of just four types of fish, FDA allows
heavy consumption of many fish that have unacceptably high methylmercury
levels. To protect women and their babies from methylmercury, the FDA must
add the following species to the list of seafood that should not be eaten by
pregnant women, nursing women, and women considering pregnancy:
Tuna steaks
Sea bass
Oysters (Gulf of Mexico)
Marlin
Halibut
Pike
Walleye
White croaker
Largemouth bass
While not every serving of any of these fish is contaminated with dangerous
levels of methylmercury, the odds are greater than one in 1,000 that
consumption of a single meal of these fish will expose the fetus to a
potentially hazardous amount of methylmercury for longer than 30 days.
2. FDA's recommendation that pregnant women eat 12 ounces a week of any fish
(except the four that are not allowed) must be radically revised.
Ten percent of American women enter pregnancy with elevated methylmercury
levels, and current FDA safeguards, which are based on average exposures, do
almost nothing to protect these high exposure pregnancies. If these women
follow FDA's advice of 12 ounces of any fish a week, they could easily
expose their fetuses to a level of methylmercury that presents a real risk
of adverse neurological effects. To protect women and children, FDA must
restrict consumption of the following fish to no more than one meal per
month, for all species combined:
Canned tuna
Mahi mahi
Blue mussels
Eastern oyster
Cod
Pollock
Salmon from the Great Lakes
Blue crab from the Gulf of Mexico
Channel catfish (wild)
Lake whitefish
3. Women who want to eat fish during pregnancy must have information about
which species are least contaminated with methylmercury. Pregnant women have
a right to this information, and FDA has a duty to provide it. In addition
to strengthening restrictions on fish consumption by pregnant women, FDA
should promote the following fish as safe options for pregnant women:
Trout (farmed)
Catfish (farmed)
Shrimp * (see sidebar)
Fish Sticks
Flounder (summer)
Salmon (wild Pacific)
Croaker
Blue crab (mid Atlantic)
Haddock
Freshwater Sport Fish
It was not possible for EWG to assess the methylmercury risk from every
recreational fish caught in every lake in every state in the country. A
review of the available data, however, shows that several large predator
sport fish are so universally contaminated that FDA should add them to the
list of fish that women should completely avoid during pregnancy.
After analyzing the results of more than 10,000 samples from 792 lakes and
rivers nationwide, we recommend that FDA add the following species to their
health advisory: walleye, northern pike, and largemouth bass. While FDA has
no authority to regulate methylmercury levels in freshwater fish, they do
have a responsibility to provide critical health information to the public.
It is important that women receive a consistent message from one source, and
the FDA is the appropriate agency to deliver this message.
Improve monitoring of fish for methylmercury contamination
A major flaw in FDA's system is the agency's own lack of comprehensive data
on methylmercury in fish. In January 2001, FDA recommended that pregnant
women avoid consumption of king mackerel based on methylmercury levels from
a study published in 1979. There are many other species where the data on
methylmercury contamination are similarly outdated, but where the available
information indicates a potential problem.
FDA must immediately expand its methylmercury sampling program to include a
host of fish where the data indicate that pregnant women and their babies
could receive a potentially unsafe exposure from a relatively small amount
of fish.
These include:
Sea bass
Atlantic cod
Grouper, black
Orange roughy
Bluefish
Pacific cod
Grouper, red
Sand perch
Bonito
Pollock
Red snapper
White perch
Porgy
Yellowtail
Rockfish
Dover sole
Halibut
Lake trout
Flounder, various species
Improve public access to mercury contamination data
Consumers have a right to know about contamination of the food supply, and
FDA must be responsive to this right. Currently they are not. EWG had great
difficulty obtaining relatively simple information about fish contamination
from the agency through the Freedom of Information Act. FDA currently posts
the results of its Total Diet Study on the web, and there is no reason that
all of the agency's mercury contamination information could not be posted as
well.
Improve risk assessments
FDA needs to move beyond its antiquated and biologically implausible risk
assessment methods based on average people and average fish and adopt
state-of-the-art risk assessment techniques that provide a much more
realistic picture of mercury exposure and risk as it is distributed
throughout the population.
It is not sufficient to protect the population from average exposures when
it is clear that many individuals have far greater than average exposures
for extended periods of time.
Reduce Mercury Pollution at its Source
Mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the largest man-made source
of environmental mercury, are currently completely unregulated. Federal
decision-makers should require power plants to reduce their mercury
pollution by 90% and ultimately move away from polluting sources of power.
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
The Environmental Working Group is to be commended for their fine work in
this area and for providing an answer to a more definitive answer to a
common question I receive - "What are "safe" fish to eat?"
It is most unfortunate that the mercury pollution from the coal plants has
so contaminated the waterways and the fish, as they are such a healthy food.
One needs to be aware that all fish are potentially contaminated with
mercury. However I would revise the EWGs list of safe fish by excluding the
shellfish and fish without scales and including a small safe fish, sardines.
So here is my list of safe fish:
Summer Flounder
Wild Pacific Salmon
Croaker
Sardines
Haddock
Tilapia
Not a very big list. It is important to note that farmed fish are very
similar to commercial beef. The fish are fed grain products and the
beneficial omega 3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) are totally distorted.
Additionally, non-organic grain is used so the fish pick up the pesticides
that were used on the grains and also that run-off from neighboring
farmland.
So I would recommend limiting fish consumption. There is another option that
I will be discussing in about two weeks which does "solve" the problem and
allow you to obtain the good nutrition of the fish while avoiding the
mercury and pesticides.
Stay tuned.
Related Articles:
National Academy of Science Backs Stricter Mercury Standards
Toxic Mercury Found in New England Rain and Snow
US EPA Proposes Regulations to Cut Mercury Emissions From Coal-Fired Power
Plants
Return to Table of Contents #214
Return to Table of Contents #214
http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/25/mercury_fish.htm
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| Re: Mercury In Your Fish [message #225052 ] |
Fr, 14 Juli 2006 07:40 |
|
You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
deal?
In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
agents.
You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
deal?
In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
agents.
|
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| Re: Mercury In Your Fish [message #225053 ] |
Fr, 14 Juli 2006 07:41 |
|
You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
deal?
In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
agents.
You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
deal?
In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
agents.
> http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/25/mercury_fish.htm
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| Re: Mercury In Your Fish [message #225062 ] |
Fr, 14 Juli 2006 10:07 |
|
citizenoftheplanetearth wrote:
> You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
> deal?
>
> In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
> agents.
>
> You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
> deal?
>
I think the big deal is how 'slowy' you die. Normal people care about
how long they have to live.
> In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
> agents.
>
|
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| Re: Mercury In Your Fish [message #225257 ] |
Sa, 15 Juli 2006 02:05 |
|
Know,of Brethren, that between birth and death is the time of growth, the
time to be used to find your release from the rounds of birth and death.
"citizenoftheplanetearth" <aBurmeseMuslim [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1152855618.311221.22670 [at] m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
> You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
> deal?
>
> In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
> agents.
>
> You are slowly dying since the day you are born. So what's the big
> deal?
>
> In the food (iwht no chemcials added) you eat are cancer causing
> agents.
>
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