According to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), eating fish is risky. Fish can contain harmful levels of mercury, pesticides, dioxins, PCBs and furans. Mercury alone is such a potent neurotoxin that even small doses can cause irreversible brain and heart damage. While most Americans currently eat an average of just one serving of fish a week, fish consumption is already the primary source of mercury for those whose consume it.
Mercury pollution places one at serious risk. One in six women of childbearing age in the US has blood mercury levels exceeding the “safe” levels recommended by the EPA. In adults, mercury exposure can bring on high blood pressure, cause tremors, and lead to infertility and liver and brain damage.
Mercury is in fish. In the canned tuna from your grocery store, and in the salmon, shrimp, and shellfish you order at a restaurant. Dr. Vas Aposhian, a toxicologist and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of Arizona found that mercury levels in albacore tuna are so high the fish should be avoided completely. Forty-four states have posted warnings about mercury contamination in their lakes, streams, and rivers.
Nearly all fish contain methyl mercury. How does it get into fish? Mercury occurs both naturally and from man-made sources. Some of it can be traced to coal-burning power plants. Smokestacks release toxic mercury emissions which rain down into rivers, lakes, and oceans. Bacteria convert the mercury to a form that’s easily absorbed by insects and other small organisms. Mercury moves up the food chain as small fish eat the small organisms and big fish eat the smaller fish. The highest concentrations accumulate in large predators such as shark, swordfish and tuna…some of America’s favorite fish.
Until the 1950’s, problems related to mercury intake were not well-known. At that time, there occurred an epidemic among fishermen and their families in villages on Japan’s Minamata Bay. People whose diet was primarily seafood showed signs of brain damage; some were even fatally stricken with disease and seizures. An investigation linked the health problems to methyl mercury poisoning from a local chemical plant that was discharging organic mercury into the bay. The villagers were getting sick from eating the fish that had absorbed the mercury.
So why consume fish at all? Fish is touted as a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which helps guard against heart disease. But flax seeds and walnuts are excellent sources of omega-3 without the risk.
Get smart – stop eating fish. And stop eating mercury.
For more information, visit www.pcrm.org – or call 202-686-2210.