Re: Confused about fish and mercury

[Guest guest]

At 07:20 AM 3/13/2002 +0000, you wrote:

> By the way, do people on this list who live in Oregon have a

> recommendation on what type of OYSTERS to eat? I mean, are there safe

> waters around here?

I think I read that the Eastern Oysters are safer WRT mercury levels.

-=mark=-

[Guest guest]

>From: " Carolyn Gutman-Dey " <cgd@...>

> Uh...how about not eating ANY mercury. Is that just too much to ask of

>the

> world today?

If I'm not mistaken, small quantities of mercury seep into the ground water

from natural deposits, so it's too much to ask of the world at any time.

Remember that mercury is not a man-made chemical, but a naturally-occurring

element which has been on Earth for billions of years. Yes, it's toxic, but

everything's toxic when taken in a large enough dose, and everything's safe

when taken at a low enough dose. Just don't make a habit of eating foods

which contain particularly high levels of mercury, especially if/when you're

pregnant (and breast-feeding?) or trying to become pregnant--in which case

you should probably avoid them altogether--and you should be fine.

> ** I know! It is SO depressing! My husband just brought home some

>(frozen) trout that a co-worker had caught " in a lake way up in the

>mountains " . It says on that chart that " lake trout " are at a " medium "

>level of mercury. What the heck does that mean anyway... that is a species

>name, right? I mean, it isn't referring to which lake it is caught in

>obviously.

I assume that it means trout found in lakes with no artificial sources of

mercury. For what it's worth, I'd eat it.

>And that is what counts. I think the newspaper in each community should be

>required to list the mercury/safety level of all fish caught or sold in the

>are -- just like they list the air pollution levels.

I'd take my chances with the mercury before I gave the government the power

to do something like that. If enough of its customers asked for this

information, then the newspapers would provide it voluntarily.

Berg

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[Guest guest]

--snip--

> If I'm not mistaken, small quantities of mercury seep into the

ground water

> from natural deposits,...

Right on, ,

Here's a nice little summary from an establishment (UC ) website:

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/Pubs/mercury.htm

Also, I once read a good article by Hall Cutler (might

have been a chapter from his book) about the different forms of

mercury, their relative toxicity, how they change back and forth in

the body, and sources. Unforturnately, I have been unable to relocate

it. He also promotes a certain method for detox (for what its worth).

Portland, OR

[Guest guest]

Uh...how about not eating ANY mercury. Is that just too much to ask of the

world today?

** I know! It is SO depressing! My husband just brought home some (frozen)

trout that a co-worker had caught " in a lake way up in the mountains " . It says

on that chart that " lake trout " are at a " medium " level of mercury. What the

heck does that mean anyway... that is a species name, right? I mean, it isn't

referring to which lake it is caught in obviously. And that is what counts. I

think the newspaper in each community should be required to list the

mercury/safety level of all fish caught or sold in the are -- just like they

list the air pollution levels.

By the way, do people on this list who live in Oregon have a recommendation on

what type of OYSTERS to eat? I mean, are there safe waters around here?

And should I eat the trout in my freezer. :-)

Thanks

Carolyn

[Guest guest]

>

>>And that is what counts. I think the newspaper in each community should be

>>required to list the mercury/safety level of all fish caught or sold in the

>>are -- just like they list the air pollution levels.

>

>I'd take my chances with the mercury before I gave the government the power

>to do something like that. If enough of its customers asked for this

>information, then the newspapers would provide it voluntarily.

>

> Berg

I'll second that.

Of course, given how much mercury I have in my MOUTH, any concern I

have about mercury in fish seems a little academic.

--

Quick

www.en.com/users/jaquick

" One of these days someone smarter and younger and more articulate

than I is going to get through to the American people just how really

messed up it has become. And when that happens, the American people are

going to rise up like that football crowd in Cleveland and run both

teams off the field. " --Sen. Zell