2008.01.23
Mercury maki?
I don't want to be an alarmist, but I found this article in The New York Times today rather alarming.
Perhaps because I love sushi and I love tuna.
According to the article, the tuna sushi from 5 out of 20 Manhattan restaurants tested off the charts for mercury.
One doc interviewed by the Times said nobody should eat that much mercury more than once every three weeks or so. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not EVER eat food containing unhealthy levels of mercury.
I wish I had the means to commission a test of tuna sushi from restaurants around Roanoke and Blacksburg. Because here's one of the most disturbing parts of the story:
Although the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere.
“Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high regardless of location,” said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health.
Does news like this change the way you eat?
Absolutley not.
My mother and father both grew up the kids of poor coal miners. Both said their dads used to bring home mercury for them to play with, as did all the kid's dads.
They recall playing with it for about once a week for at least 7 years. Pouring it in their hair, hands, trying to get it to stick to sandwhiches to see if it would.
They grew up fine, as did my brother and I.
Also caught this story from my hometown rag a few weeks ago about a man who has made a great living off of being one of 50 lead welders left in the nation:
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/500842.html?nav=5054
One of my favorite quotes from the story:
“I don’t know what lead poisoning is,” he said. “When I worked at American Viscose, we used to eat in the lead shop. We even took our breaks in there.”
Comment by Rich — January 23, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
How does mercury get in fish, anyway?
Comment by Michelle — January 23, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
The biggest source of mercury is from coal fired plants. The mercury is released from the coal and exits through the exhaust into the air. (Modern plants have scrubbers on the exhaust that remove much of the heavy metals before release, but not all plants operate to modern standards.) From the atmosphere, the metals are deposited by rain or snow and flow into rivers, lakes, and ultimately into the oceans. Microscopic organisms ingest the metals, and larger organism eat the smaller, right on up the chain. Since mercury tends to stay in the fatty tissue, it builds up in concentration over time. Tuna and other large carnivorous fish live a long time and tend to have more fat and therefore build up larger concentrations of toxins as the grow. This isn't a new thing; anyone who's has a baby should have been warned about eating tuna, swordfish, etc. because of the risks of high mercury content. My kids are in their teens, and this warning was common back when my wife was pregnant.
Comment by __Nathan — January 23, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
That's why tuna is one of the fish that pregnant women aren't supposed to eat.
Comment by Debbie — January 23, 2008 @ 6:11 pm
My wife came home with a handy flyer from the doctor one day that basically broke down seafood into four categories - okay, not so bad, not so good, and bad. It gave recommended maximum eating portions/frequency, and different notes for pregnant women/children/etc. I can't find that. The FDA and EPA have some reccos, but not as easy on the eyes:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html
Michelle, I'm not an expert on the initial vector (though I believe a portion of it comes from previous waste - a Google search will likely yield some good results), however I'm pretty sure that, like DDT, it is persistent through the food chain.
Sometimes it is more of a scare factor than an actual, physical threat, as Rich alluded. With all of the lead scares (paint on toys, etc..), what was the real threat of someone ingesting enough lead to be a danger. Of course children are different from adults, but heavy metal effects are much like radiation in that the public simply knows it's bad, but not really how bad as the pain cannot be physically perceived.
In short, eat up those shrimp...unless they come from a third-world industrial sludge pond.
Comment by Ed S. — January 23, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Read this and go to website at bottom for details about fish....
Mercury pollution is released into the air and falls directly into water and land, where it is washed into waterways. When mercury gets into water, bacteria can change it into a form called methylmercury, which is absorbed by tiny aquatic organisms. When fresh water and ocean fish eat those organisms, the mercury begins to build up in their bodies. When larger fish eat smaller fish, mercury can build up to high levels in the tissues of the big fish. Because it binds to the protein in fish muscles - the 'meat' of the fish - mercury cannot be removed by cooking or cleaning the fish.
http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/fish/mercuryhealthfacts.html
Comment by Mary — January 24, 2008 @ 6:34 am