Just like the Meryl Streep commercial about alar horrified new moms away from apples in the late 1980s, fear-mongering messages about mercury in seafood contribute to the woefully low amount of seafood women eat today in the U.S. The distinction is that seafood- and omega-3-deficient diets introduce measurable risks to health. According to a Harvard study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "Avoidance of modest fish consumption due to confusion regarding risks and benefits could result in thousands of excess [coronary heart disease] deaths annually and suboptimal neurodevelopment in children."
While alar was a chemical sprayed by humans on fruit to regulate its growth, traces of mercury have existed in ocean fish since the beginning of time from sources like underwater volcanic activity. The mercury generated by coal-fired power plants is a real threat to freshwater fish caught by recreational fishermen in certain lakes and streams, and it is imperative for folks who regularly eat fish caught by friends and family to keep an eye on local U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advisories. But most fish Americans buy in stores and restaurants come from the open ocean or aquaculture, which are not subject to the same contamination issues as enclosed bodies of water. According to a peer-reviewed U.S. Food and Drug Administration report, "Limited data suggest that methylmercury concentrations in commercial fish have not increased or decreased over time."
The scientific community has exhaustively researched the overall effect of eating fish and shellfish, traces of mercury and all. They repeatedly conclude that eating commercial seafood boosts both heart and brain health, and when people don't eat fish they might miss out on these benefits. Specifically:
Pooja R. Mottl: Vitamin-Packed Seafood Dinners -- In Just 15 Minutes Or Less
Your information on the ten-million-year history of the mercury concentration in tuna comes from...?
"safe and healthful commercial seafood" - not very safe or healthful for fish stocks and likely eventual availability of the resource. Solely because the fishing industry fights quota restrictions until almost literally the last fish.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
Yes, you can eat a healthy fish diet and be "green" as well.
Fish population problem? What fish population problem?
What's funny is I make more than the author does and I didn't have to sell my soul, let alone cheap.
http://na.oceana.org/
For a great resource for responsible sea food please consider this great company
http://www.vitalchoice.com/shop/pc/home.asp
Also, it is easy to avoid having a heart attack without sea food. Many people have done it and are doing it. Myself included.
This article also completely disregards the studies which show the tiny plastic bits which compose the great garbage patches in the Pacific and Atlantic are being found in the stomachs of bottom-feeding fish. This plastic toxicity will bioaccumulate up the food chain, just like mercury, creating high levels of petrochemical toxicity in the types of fish humans consume.
Not to mention the radioactive water pumped into the Pacific by TEPCO and the dispersants pumped into the Gulf by BP. Mmmmm, fresh fish.
Maybe the author should check out the documentary 'Homo Toxicus' which shows that nowadays children born in industrialized nations can contain over 100 manmade chemicals in their umbilical tissue at birth.
The ocean is a very sensitive and highly connected ecosystem. Even where there is no industrialization, near the remotest islands in the Pacific, coral reefs are being bleached from industrial pollution.
None of us is getting out of here alive, but frequent consumption of nutrient rich wild harvest seafood is one of the best ways to boost your defenses against the toxins and diseases you fear, and increase your odds of lasting longer than most. And seafood tastes really good too!
Not that you'll acknowledge that. You reek of paid.
EAT FLAX, NOT FISH
Flax seeds and vegan DHA (algae oil) are excellent sources of Omega 3 fatty acids, without the cruelty or mercury that come with fish consumption.
"The National Fisheries Institute: A trade association committed to assisting its members to succeed in the global seafood marketplace."
Perhaps not the place to be getting unbiased dietary advice...
The other essential oils are easily obtainable from flax, etc.
Because mercury can be transported through the atmosphere and because mercury can bioaccumulate up the food chain in the tissue of fish, open ocean species are in no way exempt from mercury contamination. Larger species like tuna and swordfish are particularly susceptible to mercury contamination, especially those that are migratory and/or breed in coastal areas adjacent to coal burning factories.
What is needed now is a concerted effort across agencies to increase risk communication, clarity, monitoring and specifications for and to vulnerable populations like women and children.
The 2004 EPA/FDA joint advisory upon which many U.S. recommendations are developed are based on toxicological data that is out of date. We need comprehensive testing of seafood species, particularly those species that are available in grocery stores, like bluefin and yellowfin tuna, that continually show elevated mercury levels.
There is significant evidence that supports the health benefits of eating seafood. However, pregnant or nursing women and children are also particularly susceptible to neurotoxins. These populations should diversify their diets with a variety of healthy, low contaminant seafood. Unfortunately, the dietary guidelines do not provide enough information as to which species and what quantities of seafood are safe and healthy. For example, eating 12 oz per week of species not specifically mentioned in the advisory such as bluefin tuna, orange roughy, wahoo, wild sturgeon, conger eel, atlantic bonito, opah, grouper and bluefish would significantly exceed the EPA's cutoff level for mercury for 0-6 year olds and 6-12 year olds, 0.119ppm and 0.167ppm respectively. Each species listed above contains an average mercury level of over 0.3 ppm, well above the legal limit, in just one sitting.