(Elana Kehoe) wrote

Federal Warning On Tuna Planned
Mercury a Danger To Fetuses, Children

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that, like lead, can damage the brains
and nervous systems of fetuses and young children. Exposure to it from
eating contaminated fish can lead to a number of neurological problems,
including learning and attention disabilities and mental retardation.


Maybe there's a "workaround" ??

Eating Fish: A Slippery Slope
by Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN
Conscious Choice, July 2001

snipped

You can fortify yourself with nutritional supplementation to guard
against the ravages of toxic metals present in our food supply. Mary
James, M.D., an expert in nutritional supplementation in her position
as medical science physician at Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory in
Asheville, North Carolina, suggests 100 to 200 micrograms (not
milligrams!) of selenium per day. This mineral essentially holds onto
the mercury, thereby preventing it from attaching to cells in the body
and causing damage. It's then excreted primarily via the bile and the
stool. Dr. James says selenomethionine is a particularly effective
form of selenium.

Additionally, she says, buffered vitamin C -- about 1,000 to 3,000
milligrams (one to three grams) daily -- will help move mercury and
other toxic metals out through the bile. Also, foods rich in sulfur --
such as garlic and onions -- would be helpful in that mercury
gravitates to the sulfur-bearing compounds and then is excreted. Dr.
James also recommends vitamin E (400-800 IUs per day) in the form of
mixed tocopherols, which will function as an antioxidant and be
helpful in reducing the effects of mercury toxicity in the body.


Full Article:

Eating Fish: A Slippery Slope
by Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN
Conscious Choice, July 2001

As a nutritionist and consumer reporter specializing in natural health
matters, I find myself in a slippery situation with regard to
recommending the consumption of fish. There is absolutely no doubt
that eating "clean" fish -- particularly those species that are high
in the health promoting omega-3 essential fats -- gives us a huge
nutritional boost. By "clean" I mean fish that are free of mercury and
other contaminants as well as drugs such as antibiotics, all of which
can make eating fish more of a health detriment than benefit. This is
particularly true for small children and pregnant or nursing women who
can endanger their fetuses and infants by eating contaminated fish.
Regrettably, from my investigation, it appears that consistently
obtaining "clean" fish is a feat that even the most health-conscious
consumers will find a challenge.

In interviewing scientists and researchers who have special knowledge
of fish and their environs, it's clear that there is very little in
the way of assurances for getting fish that are free of drugs and
contaminants whether they are farm-raised or wild-caught, that is,
procured by commercial fishermen. The National Organic Program, which
was put into place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), does
not include standards for finfish or shellfish. The USDA has begun a
preliminary inquiry into setting standards for what it calls "aquatic
animals," but one agency researcher assigned to this task suggests it
could be a matter of years (if ever!) before such a nationwide organic
standard is implemented. There are at least a couple of small
independent U.S. groups that offer organic certification for
wild-caught seafood, but very few fish companies have received such
certification. Some other countries also offer organic certification.

Meanwhile, we are seeing a seafood craze in the United States. I'd
expect a lot of that has to do with the hype over the nutritional
benefits of fish. The omega-3 fats, abundant in cold-water fish such
as salmon and halibut and other northern marine animals, confer a
number of health benefits, including supporting heart health,
protecting against cancer, and boosting the intelligence and vision of
young developing brains whether in utero or in childhood. Moreover,
fish, in general, is of superior nutritional value constituting an
excellent source of protein.

While the emphasis on eating fish has been heightened, so has the
production...particularly farm fishing or aquaculture. Measured by
weight and value, global production of aquaculture more than doubled
during the 1990s. But very little of it, according to veterinarian
Michael W. Fox, who's the senior scholar for bioethics at the Humane
Society of the United States, could be considered a healthy choice. He
points out that the pools in which farm fish are contained are so
crowded that various antibiotics and other drugs are used in high
concentrations to control bacterial, fungal, and other diseases that
afflict the stocks. "They're going to have more and more health
problems so [the fish farmers are] going to have to be using more and
more drugs in order to produce the kind of volume that will turn a
profit. It's at the state now, where I believe -- because of the high
amount of drugs used -- it's essentially a chemical cocktail. If [the
fish] are not organically certified you are consuming these animals at
your own risk."

The concern with antibiotics has been publicized but many may not
relate it to the fish they eat. David Wallinga, M.D., senior scientist
at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a specialist in
environment health policies, blames a weak regulatory structure and
inspection program for unchecked use of antibiotics on fish farms. "By
using antibiotics pretty indiscriminately as some fish farms may,
we're creating conditions where we foster increased numbers of
bacteria that are resistant to treatment with antibiotics. [This is]
contributing to increasing numbers of people getting resistant
infections that are hard to treat with antibiotics."

Dr. Wallinga is also studying the impact of contaminants such as
mercury that are "bio-accumulative," meaning these toxins become more
concentrated as they are moved up the food chain. For instance,
contaminants on the water's bottom are eaten by small fish that are,
in turn, eaten by larger fish and so on until the final product --
with its accumulated contaminants -- lands on our plate. Farmed fish
can ingest the same levels of mercury, PCBs, dioxin, and other
contaminants as wild-caught fish. "The reason that one might think
that fish farms would...get you away from that is because they're
raising the fish on some kind of feed. But...some of these feeds...may
be made up of other fish. So essentially you're creating an artificial
food chain where you're feeding fish ground up parts of other fish
that are bio-accumulating these contaminants even in a fish farm
environment."

In fact, Dr. Fox estimates that about 60 percent of the catch of wild
fish is now being used for feed by the aquaculture industry worldwide.
He says it takes three pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of
farm salmon and hence this growth in fish farms is contributing to the
depletion of ocean fisheries.

Eating wild-caught fish can also present the same problem with toxic
metals. Dr. Wallinga cites coal-burning as a major culprit in
producing mercury and other contaminant by-products that drift into
our water sources and mingle with the food fish eat. And in a cruel
twist, mercury tends to accumulate in the muscle of the fish so that
you can't trim it off the way you could if it were in the fat. This is
why it is so imperative that pregnant and nursing women be
discriminating about the fish they eat so as not to risk harming the
brain development of their children (for specifics read "Brain Food,"
the Environmental Working Group's paper on this subject at
www.ewg.org/pub/home/reports/brainfood/pr.html.

With regard to wild-caught fish, it's important to note that northern
Alaska with its clean, deep waters, offers excellent quality
wild-caught fish -- particularly salmon, which is arguably the finest
in the world. There are at least two organically certified processors
of wild-caught salmon that accept orders: Prime Select Seafoods
(888-870-7292) and Capilano Pacific (360-398-9453). Although more
expensive than farm- raised, organic products make it possible for
consumers to support, with their dollars, smaller, ecologically sound
companies. If nature-friendly producers cannot survive financially,
then we are left to the economic whims of industrial fish farms and
large multinational corporations.

So what else can a conscientious consumer do (besides quit eating
fish)? Aside from searching out organically certified seafood
products, Drs. Wallinga and Fox both recommend eating "lower on the
food chain" which means eating fish that don't eat other fish so that
you aren't getting the bio-accumulation of toxic contaminants.

Largely herbivorous or "vegetarian" fish include tilapia, catfish,
trout, and some salmon such as red and sockeye. Wild-caught fish would
probably be preferable because many herbivorous farm fish are being
fed the food mentioned earlier that contain ground up wild fish.

You can fortify yourself with nutritional supplementation to guard
against the ravages of toxic metals present in our food supply. Mary
James, M.D., an expert in nutritional supplementation in her position
as medical science physician at Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory in
Asheville, North Carolina, suggests 100 to 200 micrograms (not
milligrams!) of selenium per day. This mineral essentially holds onto
the mercury, thereby preventing it from attaching to cells in the body
and causing damage. It's then excreted primarily via the bile and the
stool. Dr. James says selenomethionine is a particularly effective
form of selenium.

Additionally, she says, buffered vitamin C -- about 1,000 to 3,000
milligrams (one to three grams) daily -- will help move mercury and
other toxic metals out through the bile. Also, foods rich in sulfur --
such as garlic and onions -- would be helpful in that mercury
gravitates to the sulfur-bearing compounds and then is excreted. Dr.
James also recommends vitamin E (400-800 IUs per day) in the form of
mixed tocopherols, which will function as an antioxidant and be
helpful in reducing the effects of mercury toxicity in the body.
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