high levels of mercury in tuna

G

general35

5,000+ Posts
Some sushi retaurants in New York have been tested for mercury and some hazardous levels were found. This could be a nationwide issue. I love tuna and the mercury is even found in high levels in some cans. Where is the mercury coming from. Is it a pollution issue or genetic issue in the fish?
The Link
 
By no means am I anything close to an expert, but I always look at these "reports" with a jaded eye....suspecting that some agenda-driven group is making a stir....notice the first comment is from someone from "Environmental Defense".

...all pelagics and reef fish have some level of mercury in them.

While certainly nobody would want to eat it for three meals a day, every day, I'd wager that the typical one or two meals a week are not going to hurt anybody.
 
The mercury begins as airborne pollution from various industries. It works its way into the ecosystem and since organisms tend to store it and not release it, the concentrations get higher as you move up the food chain. Predatory fish like Tuna and Swordfish end up having higher amounts of it as a result of this store/pass along effect.
 
I honestly wouldn't mind a ban on the sale of tuna/meat from tuna that comes from bluefin tuna over a certain size (the bigger they are, the more time they've had to accumulate mercury). Worldwide, we are WAY overfishing the bluefins. We need to let the big breedstock, at the very least, go on. And that also keeps the more likely fish to have high mercury content out of the food supply.

I love seafood. I love sushi. But global fisheries management is a clusterfuck, and i'm having more and more trouble eating some seafoods with a clear conscience (I have already sworn off of "chilean seabass," aka Patagonian Toothfish, even though it is mighty tasty -- it's vastly overfished).

Sigh.
 
Comepletely agree with you BT.

I'm the farthest thing you can imagine from being an enviro-nazi, but I've always been a strong conservationist since my time in the Boy Scouts, and it's tough for me to continue eating some of the seafood as well. The global (mis)-management of fisheries is definitely resulting in some major over-fishing and a non-sustainable trajectory, and that spells trouble for ALL of us down the road.

I love fish and I really love sushi, and I don't know the answers, but it starts with us, the consumers.
 
Fluorescent lights are another major source of mercury pollution, and it is bound to get worse with the increase in consumer usage in the form of CFLs.
 
I don't order red snapper at restaurants anymore, because the ******* commercials have absolutely raped the stocks right off the gulf coast. I remember going out to the B rock and the 352 and 368(i think) and catching limits of 4 snaps in the teens, with a real sow every trip. This was for years. Then the commercials came in. One damn boat, an old pos trawler filled with asian guys handlining. They wouldnt measure, weigh, anything. Just bait, drop, bring in, toss on the floor and repeat. They would just fill the boat. Within 2 years of that boat being there, all those spots died. The B rock started to be good again when they left, but the rigs still haven't recovered.
 
I've quit eating some fish like Chilean Seabass because of the overfishing.

I used to eat a lot more tuna. My wife's OBGYN recommended against eating tuna and swordfish while she was pregnant and we haven't really eaten much of it since then, just switched to other fish.
 
I was told the next airborne pollutant that would get regulated was going to be mercury, due to the problems you are pointing out in this post. This was several years ago, and the Bush administration has made all the appointments to the EPA and other federal staffs, so nothing has happened.
There probably should be some strong standards enforced for mercury emissions.
I'm not sure how much tuna is acceptable, but large amounts should be avoided.
Mercury is one of those elements like asbestos, as I understand it, that builds up in your body and is not cast off as waste-so if you get too much it can cause serious diseases.
 
"One by one, Matthew Davis's fifth-grade teachers went around the table describing the 10-year-old boy. He wasn't focused in class and often missed assignments, they said. He labored at basic addition. He could barely write a simple sentence.

"Our jaws dropped," says his mother, Joan Elan Davis, describing a teachers' meeting she had requested in late 2003, when her son abruptly lost interest in homework. Matthew had always excelled in school. In the fourth grade, he had written and illustrated a series of stories about a superhero named Dog Man.

Ms. Davis noticed something else: Her son's fingers were starting to curl, as if he were gripping a melon. And he could no longer catch a football.

A neurologist ordered tests. They showed Matthew's blood was laced with mercury in amounts nearly double what the Environmental Protection Agency says is the safe level for exposure to the metal. Matthew had mercury poisoning, his doctors said.

The Davises had pinpointed the suspected source: tuna fish."
The Link
 
So, according to the article a 6 Oz can of albacore (twice the mercury as plain tuna) a day is excessive (twice the recommended limit) for someone weighing 60 pounds.
 
I've been eating tuna sashimi twice a week for a year.

I think I'll be cutting back on that a little bit now.
 
It pisses me off more than anything the oversight of the FDA as it pertains to food safety over the last 20 years....this is directed to both political parties.

I can't remember a time (during my life)when food in this country was more unsafe to eat whether it be fish, chicken, beef or vegies.
 
The EPA enacted the Clean Air Mercury Rule in May of 2005. The rule permanently caps and will then reduce mercury emissions coming from coal fired power plants. The first implementation (Phase I of CAMR) will take place in 2010 reducing levels to 38 tons/yr. Phase II is scheduled for 2020 reducing national levels to 15 tons/yr. Current estimates for national emissions are around the 48 tons/yr mark. Millions of dollars are being spent by the US government (EPRI and DOE) and hosting utilities in researching methods for mercury capture and removal.

This isn't a Bush thing, nor a Clinton thing. But hopefully just a step in the right direction.

Besides CO2, the next contaminants that keep popping up from what I hear are Arsenic and Selenium.
 
I have never understood why there hasn't been a ban on selenium in dandruff shampoo (example Selsun Blue).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top