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Report: Fish-mercury risk underestimated
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A report issued Thursday says
millions of pregnant women and their fetuses are at risk of serious health
problems from exposure to mercury in fish.
The report, prepared by the Environmental Working
Group and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, calls on the Food and Drug
Administration to upgrade and strengthen its current mercury safeguards.
The FDA in January recommended that shark, swordfish,
king mackerel and tilefish not be eaten by pregnant women and women of
childbearing age who might become pregnant. It also recommended that nursing
mothers and young children steer clear of these fish.
But the new report, "Brain Food: What Women
Should Know About Mercury Contamination in Fish," contends the
recommendations do not go far enough to protect women and children from mercury
contamination.
It urges the FDA to add Gulf coast oysters and
eight more types of fish to the list, including tuna, sea bass, halibut,
marlin, pike and white croaker. In addition, the report says canned tuna,
mahi-mahi, cod and pollack should not be eaten more than once a month.
"The widespread contamination of fish with
mercury has given its reputation as 'brain food' a new and disturbing
connotation," said Environmental Working Group analyst Jane Houlihan,
principal author of the report. "Mercury is toxic to the developing fetal
brain, and exposure in the womb can cause learning deficiencies and delay
mental development in children."
Under the FDA's current recommendations, pregnant
women can safely eat up to 12 ounces per week of cooked fish not on the risk
list. But Richard Wiles, the Environmental Working Group's senior vice
president, said even that amount could cause problems.
"Hundreds of thousands of women would get
unsafe exposures to mercury if they followed the FDA's advice and ate freely of
all fish in the food supply except the four that they've prohibited during
pregnancy," Wiles said.
He said mercury contamination is equal to lead
contamination as a public health issue affecting children.
"It's a major public health failing on (the
FDA's) part," Wiles said, "and we feel quite strongly that they need
to aggressively look into the problem of mercury contamination of fish, expand
the list of fish that women need to avoid and get this information out to the
medical community and to women in a much more aggressive way."
Wiles said he has discussed the report's findings
with the FDA.
Reached for comment, an FDA official told CNN that
"based on the review of scientific data, FDA stands by our consumer
advisory issued in January."
The Environmental Working Group says there are
some fish considered safe for pregnant women, including farm-raised trout and catfish,
shrimp, fish sticks, flounder (summer), wild pacific salmon, croaker,
mid-Atlantic blue crab and haddock.
The Environmental Protection Agency also issued a
national advisory in January, but it covered only non-commercial, freshwater
fish caught by sport fishermen in local waters. They recommended limiting fish
consumption to one meal a week of 6 ounces of cooked fish for adults and 2
ounces for young children.
According to the EPA, states are primarily
responsible for protecting their residents from contaminated noncommercially
caught fish. Almost 68 percent of state-issued consumption advisories are a
result of mercury contamination in fish and shellfish. Last December, the
Clinton administration announced that mercury emissions from power plants pose
a significant health hazard and proposed regulations to reduce them by 2004. An
EPA official now says that decision is "under review" and that
"no decisions have been made yet."
Mercury occurs naturally in the environment, but
in the United States more mercury enters the air through industrial emissions,
the biggest source being coal-fired power plants. Once there, the mercury
enters waterways and accumulates in the muscle tissue of fish.
Fish and other seafood products are the main
source of methylmercury toxicity in humans, and fetuses are particularly
vulnerable.
The report is based is based on the examination of
53,000 records of mercury test results in fish from seven federal, state and
other government sources.
Breaking News Archives - each day's breaking news from December 1, 2003 (check here for breaking news you might have missed and breaking news that didn't ever hit the "front page")
More News - all the news most recently posted on this website
All the News - a running tab of everything posted on this website since October 29, 2003
Top Stories Archives - daily breaking and other important news stories
Daily News Archives - all the news posted on this website each day (from April 2001)
Hot Topics - selected stories, by category
Return to Vaccination News Home Page (for best results, right click to "open in new window")
DISCLAIMER: All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.