Pregnant? Love Seafood? Beware

For those who don't remember, Hg is mercury. It's that toxic metal in nature that never breaks down or goes away. It's in the air, on land, and in water. And in the fish you had for lunch.

Yep.

Mercury is in our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. It's in the water, but at safe, low levels. But bacteria are also in the water. And when mercury and bacteria mix, mercury becomes the organic form...methyl mercury.

An environmental scientist would say that methyl mercury biomagnifies. This means it moves up the food chain. Small organisms absorb methyl mercury in the water. Small fish then eat these small organisms, and big fish eat the smaller fish.

Big fish that eat small fish all day and live for many years accumulate the most methyl mercury. Those big fish are caught and eaten by people. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, mercury concentrations in fish can be up to 10 million times the mercury concentration in water.

Is methyl mercury dangerous?

Yes. Women who may become pregant, pregnant women, and nursing women are at risk. Methyl mercury can affect the nervous system; fetuses and infants are the most susceptible to methyl mercury, because their brains are developing. Fetuses can ingest it directly across the placenta, and infants can get it from their mother's breast milk. Exposure may cause a delay in mental development and coordination, and dull a child's ability to think and solve problems as they age.

If you frequently eat fish high in methyl mercury, it will build up in your blood. Your body removes it naturally, but it may take 6 months to a year. To be safe, a woman trying to get pregnant should restrict her fish diet.

There is no special way to cook or prepare fish, which will eliminate methyl mercury. Mercury attaches itself to fish muscle tissue, the part we eat as fillets. To limit your baby's risk, don't eat predatory fish or fish that live a long time.

Fish to avoid:

swordfish
bluefish
shark
grouper
orange roughy
mackerel (Spanish, Gulf)
tuna (bigeye and ahi)
sea bass (Chilean)
sea bass
tuna (canned albacore)
marlin
tuna (yellow fin)
tilefish
mackerel (king)

Safest fish:

anchovies
catfish
clams
sardines
crab (domestic)
pollock
flounder
trout (freshwater)
oysters
tilapia
salmon (fresh)
shrimp
salmon (canned)
scallops

FDA, EPA, "PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY: Consumer Guide to Mercury in Fish." NRDC The Earth's Best Defense. URL:
(http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/guide.asp)

Oceans Alive, "Mercury in Fish and Shellfish." Oceans Alive. URL:
(http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=mercury)

Dr. Stephen Juan, "The Minamata Disaster--50 Years On." The Register. URL:
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/14/the_odd_body_minimata_disaster/