Why Mercury Tuna Is Still Legal

October 27, 2008

NEWS: The Bush FDA helped industry suppress the bad news about

mercury. Still want fish for dinner?

By Mencimer, September/October 2008 Issue Mother .

First, Deborah Landvik-Fellner's hair started falling out. Then her

speech began to slur and her memory grew unreliable. Her heart started

fluttering, and her hands shook. One day she walked out of the

supermarket and woke up surrounded by a crowd of people. She'd

collapsed in the parking lot for no apparent reason. Landvik-Fellner,

then 45, went to one doctor, then another, and another. None could

figure out what was wrong. Finally, in 2004, after five years of weird

symptoms, her husband Mike saw a TV show about a man who was poisoning

his business partner with mercury, a potent toxin that can damage the

heart, nervous system, and kidneys. The business partner's

symptoms—shaky hands, staggering gait—reminded Mike of his wife's. On

a lark, he suggested that she have her blood tested. When the results

came back, they were both stunned: 48 parts per billion of mercury,

nearly 10 times what the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe.

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