Mercury toxicity not the only health hazard in regards to eating fish

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to mention the fact that there are other contaminants in fish

(and some fish oils) that are hazardous to our health.

As far as the different types of mercury are concerned, the EPA states that

there are 3 kinds and all are harmful. Of course discussions regarding

mercury toxicity are about *toxic* levels, not naturally occuring amounts

that would've been present prior heavy industrial pollution.

" Mercury exists in three forms: elemental mercury, inorganic mercury

compounds (primarily mercuric chloride), and organic mercury (primarily

methyl mercury). All forms of mercury are quite toxic, and each form

exhibits different health effects. "

See http://www.epa.gov/ttn/uatw/hlthef/mercury.html for more info.

Also see the following for more info on the different forms of mercury.

http://www.northwestern.edu/research-safety/news/articles/1999articles/1503m

ercin.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:zl6sRZZMAaQC:www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/tac/

factshts/mercury.pdf+methyl+mercury+inorganic+hazard & hl=en

----------------------------------------

Here's more info on various contaminants in fish and fish oils including

dioxin, PCBs, DDT and mercury.

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:o2TM3tG0KD4C:www.actionnetwork.org/camp

aign/methylmercury_petition/explanation+contaminated+shark & hl=en

(I apologize -this link no longer works. I posted this to another list not

long ago and it was working then!)

What's At Stake!

Help Protect Kids and Pregnant Women from Mercury-contaminated Fish!

Mercury is a poison that occurs naturally but also is discharged

through human actions, especially from power plants. In water, mercury is

converted to methylmercury, its most toxic form. Methylmercury is taken up

by fish in which it bioaccumulates, so that fish at the top of the food

chain - like shark, swordfish, and large tuna - have accumulated higher

levels from the smaller fish they eat. It accumulates in our body fat when

we eat tainted fish and other foods with mercury in them. High levels of

methylmercury can cause neurological problems in developing fetuses,

resulting in delayed development in children.

According to a July 2000 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report,

each year more than 60,000 children are born in this country at risk for

neurological problems from exposure to methylmercury in seafood eaten by

their mothers. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently advised

women who are or may become pregnant not to eat swordfish, shark, king

mackerel, and tilefish, that advice ignored the risk of mercury-contaminated

tuna steaks. Worse, it doesn't stop mercury-contaminated seafood from being

sold in the first place and did not require warning labels. FDA's current

stance fails to protect pregnant women, women who may become pregnant,

nursing mothers, and young children.

The NAS first told FDA in 1991 that its standards for methylmercury

in commercially sold fish were too weak. Nearly a decade has gone by and the

government still hasn't fixed the problem. FDA's current methylmercury

action level - a guidance rather than a regulation - is set at a level about

four times higher than what both NAS and the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) say is safe. Further, FDA does very little monitoring to see if

seafood retailers are selling contaminated fish to consumers.

FDA Mercury Advisory Criticized by Industry, Consumers

FDA's recent revision of its consumer advisory on methyl mercury

in fish is facing criticism from both consumer and industry groups.

The agency's Jan. 12 advisory tells pregnant women, women who

may become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children not to eat

swordfish, shark, king mackerel or tilefish. However, these women can eat 12

oz. per week of cooked fish. FDA specified the following fish as safe

choices: shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish and farm-raised fish.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group,

is calling FDA's new advisory a half measure. While the group applauds the

do-not-eat advice for swordfish and shark, it believes that large tuna

should also be included among the types of fish pregnant women should not

eat.

Meanwhile, the fishing industry also is attacking FDA's

announcement. The National Fisheries Institute issued a statement

questioning the timing of the revision and asking FDA to provide the

scientific basis for its decision. " Protecting people who are especially

sensitive to the potential effects of mercury is of paramount concern to the

seafood industry, " NFI said. " But when FDA tells some consumers not to eat a

food, it should have adequate justification for doing so. "

REF: Food Chemical News Daily, 3(137), January 17, 2001.

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:TGaTH2R73DEC:www.seedcoalition.org/2020

_jan2001.htm+contaminated+shark & hl=en

HEADLINE: THE FISH RISK; INVESTIGATION FINDS TUNA, SWORDFISH AND

SHARK CONTAMINATED WITH MERCURY AND MIGHT BE HARMFUL

ANCHORS: BARBARA WALTERS

REPORTERS: ARNOLD DIAZ

DIAZ: (VO) We purchased some shark and also fresh tuna, the kind

used to make sushi and tuna steaks. We bought all this fish not to eat it

but to have it tested, tested for mercury, because an alarming new report

warns pregnant women that mercury contaminated fish may be threatening the

health of their unborn children.

Senator PATRICK LEAHY: We're talking about putting at risk 60,000

newborn children every year.

DIAZ: (VO) Vermont Senator Leahy helped commission the study

from the prestigious National Academy of Sciences which estimates that " each

year, about 60,000 children may be born in the United States with

neurological problems that could lead to poor school performance because of

exposure to methylmercury in utero. " That comes as no surprise to Boston

physician Dr. Jill Stein, an expert on mercury's effect on children.

Dr. JILL STEIN: Low level exposures do cause attention problems,

memory deficits, problems learning language.

DIAZ: Are these long-lasting effects?

Dr. STEIN: All evidence is that the effects of prenatal exposures do

appear to be permanent.

DIAZ: (VO) We know how dangerous mercury can be at extremely high

levels. In the 1950s, waste water polluted the bay in Minimata, Japan.

People who ate the contaminated fish suffered devastating tremors,

blindness, even death. Today, mercury comes mainly from coal burning power

plant and incinerator emissions. The heavy metal winds up in the water and

eventually the fish, especially the large predator fish like swordfish,

shark and some large tuna. While today's levels are a tiny fraction of those

in the Minimata tragedy, even that may be enough to cause harm to some,

suggests the new report.

Sen. LEAHY: The good news is we know what the danger of the mercury

pollution is. The bad news is our own government is not moving fast enough

to do anything about it.

DIAZ: (VO) The Food and Drug Administration used to test fish for

mercury and found about a third of the swordfish and shark had mercury

levels above its recommended average of one part per million. But three

years ago, the FDA stopped testing for mercury and now requires the fishing

industry to police itself.

Mr. DICK GUTTING: The average levels are well below the safety

limit.

DIAZ: (VO) Dick Gutting, president of the trade group, The National

Fisheries Institute, says the industry does its own testing and those tests

do not indicate an overall mercury problem, although he could not cite

specifics.

(OC) So you have no idea what percentage of tests that the fisheries

are doing are failing on mercury and swordfish?

Mr. GUTTING: That's correct.

DIAZ: Then how can you say that there's not a problem if you don't

know the results?

Mr. GUTTING: Because if the results are over the limit, the product

is not brought into the market.

DIAZ: (VO) But our tests show some are ending up in the market. We

sent 40 samples of swordfish, shark and fresh tuna we had bought in three

cities to one of the foremost mercury testing laboratories in the country.

Battelle Marine Science Labs does testing for the FDA, EPA and several

states. The fish are cut into small chunks, placed in a jar, processed and

than analyzed to see how much if any methylmercury they contain. The

results, although the fresh tuna samples averaged well below the FDA limit,

two out of 18 tested over one part per million. Half the shark samples, two

out of four, failed. And the most disturbing finding, 14 of the 18 swordfish

we tested also failed. Two had more than triple the FDA limit of mercury.

(OC) We took 18 pieces of fish, 14 of them failed. That doesn't jibe

with what you're saying your results are.

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http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/library/press/press86_en.html

Scientific opinions on dioxin in feed and food

http://www.monitor.net/rachel/r597.html

MERCURY--HOW MUCH IS SAFE?

http://www.greenpeace.org/majordomo/index-oldgopher/9506/msg00008.html

Cod Liver Oil Contaminated by Chlorine

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/fish/catch/ccsum.asp

Contamination of Fish Is a Serious Health Concern

http://www.seaweb.org/campaigns/danger/chem.html

DANGER AT SEA: Our Changing Ocean

http://www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_oceandumping.html

Deep-Sea Biodiversity and the Impacts of Ocean Dumping

http://www.fst.rdg.ac.uk/foodlaw/eu/doc-31.htm

BYRNE, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection

Address at the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament Committee on

Fisheries

Brussels, 10 July 2001

" The Scientific Committee for Food concluded that the average human intake

of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in the European countries has been estimated

to be 1.2 to 3.0 pg/kg bodyweight/day. "

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2001/0722/green.html

Our dirty sea

http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1671.52228

Fish Tales

In a confusing twist, recent medical research advises some people to eat

more fish -- and warns others not to eat too much. What should you do?

http://www.american.edu/ted/JAPANSEA.HTM

Japan Sea Contamination

" The former Soviet Union and, now Russia, have reportedly

dumped radioactive waste in the Sea of Japan since 1950s. A report

of an environmental group, Greenpeace, first revealed the

surprising fact in February 1993, and Russian authorities admitted

it the following month. "

http://www.enn.com/enn-features-archive/1998/10/101998/fishfeature_24030.asp

Mercury rising:

Seafood is increasingly contaminated with toxins

http://www.endsreport.com/issue/print.cfm?ArticleID=7219

EC advisers call for reductions in PCB, dioxin exposures

Scientific advisers to the European Commission have called for renewed

efforts to cut human exposures to PCBs and dioxins. They suggest yet more

emphasis on cutting emissions - and effectively recommend that fish products

of European origin be removed from animal feeds because they are too

contaminated.

http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/feb99/020399a.htm

Report Finds Forty States Advise Limited Fish Consumption Due to Mercury

Contamination; Calls State Protections Inadequate; U.S. Tuna Foundation

Joins Call for Reduced Mercury Emissions

Greenpeace scientists tested 22 brands of fish oils from Norway, Japan, UK,

Spain, Iceland and Germany, and found that 21 of the 22 contained “high

levels

of hazardous contaminants, namely the organochlorine pesticides DDT and

lindane and polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs).”

(http://www.greenpeace.org/majordomo/index-oldgopher/9506/msg00008.html)

If a person takes the recommended dose of the most contaminated oil in the

study (from Norwegian Salmon) she would be ingesting 128 times the UK

estimated daily intake of PCBs.

The European Union Scientific Committee on Food found that fish and fish

products of European origin are “most heavily contaminated feed materials.

These materials are used for fish feed and also incorporated in the diet of

other food producing animals. Emphasis should be put on reducing the impact

of the most contaminated feed materials (fish meal and fish oil).”

http://www.fst.rdg.ac.uk/foodlaw/news/eu-01107.htm

Whether or not any one of the organizations presenting information on fish

contamination has a specfiic agenda, I think the totality of the information

suggests that contamination of fish with toxic compounds is fairly

widespread and that it would be wise to exercise caution in how much and

what types of fish to consume.

Suze Fisher

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