Eat Loads of Tuna? Sushi? Get Tested for Mercury Poisoning

An amusing progressive radio talk show host, Stephanie Miller, had been mentioning on air her terrible insomnia over the past few weeks. Then, suddenly, a blood test revealed she had severe mercury poisoning. Evidently Stephanie had long been a tuna and crackers for lunch person, with sushi her regular dinner choice. Now she is off fish, obviously, and taking a wide range of supplements and meds in order to draw the mercury from her body.

Now we've all heard the warnings about too much swordfish, too much big fish eating of any kind, but we probably figured the mercury thing was only a concern for pregnant women and kids. Not so.

The symptoms? Pins and needles, short term memory loss, lack of coordination, among others. ( The insomnia may NOT be a part of the mercury profile, but, not all is fully known.)

The mercury topic has two parts--one, eating the affected fish on a regular basis decidedly is not good for humans. Two, environmental concerns. 80% of the mercury in the air is caused by coal-fired power plants. The rest is generated by fertilizers and the burning of solid waste.

This is another in a long line of concerns regarding what we eat, what we should and should not eat---it's a subject that is becoming increasingly depressing!  Yesterday I was searching for a decent, frozen fish that was not a product of China--after tossing aside several offerings I chose whiting from Canada and when I semi-defrosted two pieces, one of them smelled fishy, in that definitive way that means not-so-fresh-when-frozen. Damn. I gave that  piece to the dog.....

For info on healthy and unhealthy fish choices see this: http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=bestandworst

Comments

[Melissa]

Excellent recommendations. People should be aware of both the risks and benefits of seafood. The decision of what fish to eat can be a challenge and often contradictory. At the very least, people should know that FDA and EPA have issued advisories about mercury contamination in commonly-sold fish. The problem is, this information is hard to find and is not usually available where it is most necessary: your supermarket.

Oceana, a conservation group, is trying to get major grocery companies to post this government advice at their seafood counters. Thanks, in part to their work, Whole Foods, Safeway stores, and Wild Oats voluntarily agreed to post the FDA’s recommendations and they have had positive responses from customers and no loss in seafood sales. But other companies like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Giant have refused to do so. Oceana has a list of which companies care about their customers’ health enough to post this advice, as well as a list of companies that don’t. You can get the Green List and Red List at their website:

www.oceana.org/greenlist

[Foodie]

Here's another mercury riff from oceana.org--http://www.oceana.org/north-america/what-we-do/stop-seafood-contamination/chlorine-plant-campaign/erco-switches/

[Kelly Mahoney]

That's startling. I eat all that stuff.

[KathyF]

Did you happen to see RFK Jr when he came to Albuquerque a few years ago? You may have been in France, now that I think about it...

Anyway, he mentioned having his hair tested for environmental contaminants, just out of curiosity. He found he had elevated levels of mercury, and when he asked what that meant, he was told it could interfere with a fetus's development in terms of IQ. Bad enough, but he didn't plan on carrying any fetuses to term. He asked what it meant to a male, and was told his low levels of mercury would be responsible for foggy memory, like forgetting where you put your glasses, that sort of thing. I wonder how many people have mercury poisoning and don't even know it?

Incidentally, I immediately sensed a political message in this, for white, middle class suburban moms, who fight to get their kids into gifted classes: mercury poisoning could be responsible for a few points lower score on your kid's IQ test that determines their placement! So they should vote for the enviro candidate. (Miles, at that time.)