Tracking the Bush Administration's Environmental Misdeeds
bushgreenwatch.org
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March 24, 2005
HEALTH GROUPS LIST FISH POSING MERCURY RISKS
With recent revelations that the Environmental Protection Agency
disregarded two key health studies in drafting its controversial
new rule for reducing mercury emissions, the battle over mercury
regulations continues to make headlines.
While health advocates continue to press for stronger standards,
the Republican staff of the House Resources Committee issued a
report earlier this month asserting that the dangers of mercury
are overblown. Environmental and public health groups are
"crying wolf," said Committee Chair Richard Pombo (R-CA). [1]
Lost amidst the coverage of the year-long political battle is
more definitive guidance for the average citizen about what
she/he can do to minimize mercury's health dangers. All experts
agree that the primary means of mercury exposure is through
eating fish. The question many are asking is: what are the fish
that pose the greatest health risks?
Last year the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), began
recommending that women and children limits consumption of
albacore tuna, which comprises 30% of all the canned tuna sold
in the U.S. The Mercury Policy Project says that children eat
twice as much tuna as any other fish. Women of child-bearing age
are also frequent consumers of canned tuna. [2]
The FDA also advised caution regarding shark, swordfish, king
mackerel and tilefish. [3]
Health advocacy nonprofits such as the Environmental Working
Group (EWG) have issued reports stating that FDA has
underestimated the danger. "If women follow the FDA's advice and
eat one can of albacore tuna a week," said an EWG report,
"hundreds of thousands more babies will be exposed to mercury."
[4]
Along with organizations such as NRDC, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, the Association of Reproductive Health
Professionals, the Endangered Fish Alliance, Organic Consumers
Association, and the Green Guide, EWG has compiled lists of fish
that are least safe to eat, as well as those that pose little or
no health risk.
For example, EWG's list of fish to be avoided by pregnant women
includes shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, tuna steaks,
canned tuna, sea bass, Gulf Coast oysters, marlin, halibut,
pike, walleye, white croaker and largemouth bass.
In most cases the rule of thumb is to avoid the largest of the
deep cold water ocean fish. They are at the top of the food
chain, eating huge quantities of smaller fish that swim nearer
the surface, which becomes polluted as mercury emissions from
power plants drift down into the water.
The NRDC list calls for at-risk populations to avoid grouper,
marlin, orange roughy, swordfish, tilefish, shark and king
mackerel. A second-tier category lists other fish that are high
in mercury and should be eaten in 6-ounce servings no more than
three times per month.
That list includes saltwater bass, croaker, halibut, tuna
(canned white albacore), tuna (fresh, bluefish, ahi), sea trout,
bluefish and lobster (American, Maine). [5]
Despite the House Resources Committee charge that mercury risks
are exaggerated by the public health community, impartial
scientific and medical experts are in overwhelming agreement
that mercury exposure is a serious health threat.
Prenatal and infant exposure can cause mental retardation,
cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness, reduced attention span, and
delayed onset of the ability to talk and walk. The EPA estimates
that 630,000 children per year are born with unsafe levels of
mercury.
In adults, mercury poisoning can adversely affect fertility and
blood pressure regulation. It can also lead to memory loss,
tremors, vision loss and numbness of the fingers and toes. A
number of studies also link mercury exposure to heart disease.
###
SOURCES:
[1] Mercury in Perspective, House Resources Committee Report,
ga3.org.
[2] Mercury Policy Project website,
ga3.org.
[3] FDA Press Release, Mar. 19, 2004,
ga3.org.
[4] EWG Press Release, Mar. 19, 2004,
ga3.org.
[5] NRDC Report: Mercury Contamination in Fish,
ga3.org. |
