FDA advises limiting tuna consumption .. Mercury risk

By ERIC PIANIN
Washington Post
12/11/2003

WASHINGTON - The federal government plans to warn pregnant women, nursing mothers and even those thinking of getting pregnant to limit their consumption of tuna as part of a broader advisory concerning the dangers of eating fish and shellfish with elevated levels of harmful mercury.

A draft advisory by the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency cautions women of childbearing age as well as young children to limit their intake of tuna and other fish and shellfish to 12 ounces a week, the equivalent of two or three modest meals. Among seafoods, tuna ranks second only to shrimp in popularity in the United States.

The government is also advising consumers to mix up the types of fish they eat and not to eat any one kind of fish or shellfish more than once a week. The FDA had previously warned pregnant women against eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish because they contain unusually high levels of mercury, but until now the agency hasn't directly addressed concerns about tuna.

The advisory notes that mercury levels in tuna vary, and that tuna steaks and canned albacore tuna generally contain higher levels of mercury than canned light tuna. The document advises pregnant and nursing women that "you can safely include tuna as part of your weekly fish consumption."

However, David Acheson, the FDA's medical officer in charge of the issue, said in an interview that it is implicit in the draft document that women at risk should eat no more than 4 to 6 ounces of tuna once a week.

David Burney, executive director of the San Diego-based U.S. Tuna Foundation, said the industry agrees that there was a need to expand the government advisory to include tuna, but that manufacturers fear that environmental and consumer groups will exploit fears to unnecessarily harm the industry.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that, like lead, can damage the brains and nervous systems of fetuses and young children. Exposure can lead to a number of neurological problems, including learning and attention disabilities and mental retardation.


http://www.buffalonews.com/editoria...7.asp#topofpage

Yanno, I think whether or not pregnancy is involved people should start avoiding these fish ( too bad love fish)... I have never really understood why these warnings are directed at pregnant women only. Appeasing the tuna industry? Yes it is bad for a fetus, but isn't it equally bad for the adults who bioaccumulate this stuff? I've read that it may be a factor in the onset of Alzheimer's disease for instance.

Probably wise to avoid most of the predatory fishes... they have higher mercury from eating up all of the other fish that are consuming mercury (like schools that hang around point sources in the Gulf of Mexico)... that's why the lighter canned tuna is lower in mercury, the fish are smaller, and the steaks and albacore are from larger mature fish that have bioaccumulated for awhile. But the same applies to any predatory fish in coastal waters.

i LOVE tuna. i can't imagine starting to eat more protein without it. i can't stand that light tuna. i can only eat albacore.

i'm not married, i'm not sexually active, i'm not looking to get pregant. do i have to worry that if i was to try to get pregant two years from now, tuna consumption could have residual effects on my baby, or is the concern for eating tuna while a baby develops?

any thoughts on salmon? i eat it about 4 times a week! i buy the wild king salmon because it's not farmed and supposed to be ok as far as mercury. anyone know anything i should know?

I think Tuna and tuna salads (lc version) all the time... well, some of the time..

Your body will accumulate mercury over time, but apparently it is possible for your body to get rid of it. I found a detoxification method on Dr. Mercola’s web site which sounds as if it is for someone with a very high level of mercury in their system. I think that for most of us it would be sufficient to simply limit or eliminate our intake of the problem fish and continue to follow a low carb diet. You can search Mercola's site or just do a little research on the Web for more info.

http://www.mercola.com/article/mercury/

This news really bothers me because I love tuna, especially albacore. Boy, it doesn't sound to me as if our environment is doing very well. Now we can't eat the fish.

Yes, mercury accumulates in fat and nerve tissue over time. So the warning isn't just for pregnant & nursing mothers .. it's for all women of childbearing age (who *may* choose to have children in future, even if it's not in the picture right now ) .. and for all children male & female under the age of 12.

The risk is highest with the larger predatory fish, obviously, since they would concentrate not only the mercury they take in from their environment but also mercury from the smaller fish that they eat. Shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish and ahi tuna (yellowfin) have been on the warning list for years .. canned albacore and smaller tuna species have been exempt until now. FWIW, skipjack is one of the smallest types of tuna and rates lowest on the mercury scale, although it's not zero

I still have tuna 2 - 3 x per week, but buy the small 3 oz (85g) tins. I've started eating more salmon (wild not farmed) and sardines. You can get both of those canned skinless & boneless if you hate the thought of eating the skin and bones ... but I find once it's all smushed up with mayonnaise, chopped onion and celery - you don't notice anyway And the bones, which are very soft, are excellent source of pure calcium.


Doreen

Nice link, I may try that someday.

I agree about not eating the fish, and IMHO just because I'm not producing babies right now doesn't make it ok for me to accumulate methlymercury in my body just so the tuna industry stays happy. I don't think men should be eating it either.

I've been using canned chicken instead lately, not the same taste but then well I've adapted to many other changes already this past year what's another.

I've been avoiding tuna because of this, and only my cat suffers, because he loves it.
Mercury is no joke, and it does accumulate. "Mad as a hatter" came about because hats were prepared with mercury solutions.
You might want to add garlic to your diet, since that helps the body get rid of toxic metals.

Mercury levels in tuna can be harmful to kids and pregnancys, more info here:

TUNA WARNING

I knew there was a good reason why I HATE tuna!

I read this link here a while back. It's about the possiblity that mercury in fish may be less toxic than previously thought.

Personally, I'm going to keep on eating albacore tuna and other fish. Besides, kids aren't in the picture for me anyway.

;-Deb[

What if you're past child-bearing age...providing you're not in your second childhood??

This one really sort of freaks me out. I too am well past child rearing age, but I still think it's not a good idea to accumulate mercury in your body. I eat tuna about 2 times a week and I've gotten very picky, only buying the white albacore. It's been a staple since I've been low carbing. I like adkpam's idea about increasing garlic intake, which is no problem for me. I wonder if there is a test that can be done to check mercury levels in one's body?
k

I love seafood...I eat everything fro the tiniest shrimp to Billfish. I've also tried Shark, but didn't care for it. I am not going to stop eating seafood just because it might have mercury in it. Seafood is a natural, wild animal...If the environment is so ****** up that eating something as healthy and natural as fish is bad for me, then just breathing is probably doing a number on me. There are so many cancer/disease causing chemicals in our environment nowadays that one more isn't going to make me stop eating fish. Beef [except the overpriced organic stuff] contains hormones, vegetables have pestiscide residue on them, and now fish have mercury in them. Well, just chock it up to one more poison/carcinogen ******* up the environment. What needs to be done is cleaning up the environment and ending the practice of using hormones...not for us to stop eating otherwise very healthy foods.