News Coverage
Albacore tuna draws a warning
Published March 20, 2004
Go ahead and eat that tuna sandwich, the government told most Americans on Friday. But if you're a young child or a pregnant or nursing woman - don't eat too many. The latest advice on fish consumption for pregnant or nursing women and young children recommends eating only one meal a week of white, or albacore, tuna because the mercury it contains may damage the developing nervous system of the fetus or child. The advisory was issued by the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Men, teenagers, and women who have no intention of becoming pregnant are on their own. The agencies made no recommendations for them.The guidelines for young children and women who are pregnant, nursing, or considering having a baby are:
* Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish.
* Eat up to two meals a week (12 ounces in all) of a variety of fish and shellfish that are low in mercury. Those include shrimp, canned light tuna,salmon, pollock, and catfish.
* Follow state advisories on locally caught fish. If there are no advisories, limit fish consumption that week to just 6 ounces of the locally caught fish.
* For young children, follow these same recommendations, but serve smaller portions.
By following the guidelines, "women and young children will receive the health benefits of eating fish and shellfish and can feel confident they have reduced their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury," said Lester Crawford, FDA deputy commissioner.
Rebecca Goldburg, a senior scientist and biologist with the Environmental Defense Fund, criticized the advisory's examples of fish low in mercury. Those very fish may be high in other contaminants, she said. Farm-raised salmon, for example, can contain dangerous levels of PCBs. "Telling people they can eat two meals a week of farm-raised salmon will be giving them high doses of PCBs,'' Goldburg said.Crawford. however, said,"Americans can and should feel comfortable consuming fish as an important part of the food supply.''
The advisory emphasized the benefits of eating fish: They are rich in protein, low in saturated fat, and full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Each year, 630,000 babies are born who have been exposed to potentially toxic levels of mercury in the womb, the EPA says. Mercury interferes with the development of the brain and nervous system. It can lower intelligence and slow a child's ability to walk, talk, remember, and draw. Adults can recover from the effects of overexposure, but children suffer permanent harm.
Frank Lillo, a third-generation fishmonger and owner of Frank's Seafood Market in Glen Rock, said his customers ask a lot of questions about the fish they buy - about its fat content, its "alleged'' mercury content, and other things. He finds much of the government advice confusing. "If you listen to all of this, you won't eat anything,'' he said. "They never spell out exactly how much of what you should eat.'' Lillo buys his fish each morning at the Fulton Fish Market in New York. "The Number One thing with seafood is freshness," he said. His fish sales have increased over the years "because fish is good for you,'' Lillo said.
Fish become contaminated primarily because of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. The pollution settles in water, and is transformed by bacteria in the sediments into methylmercury, which is easily absorbed in animal tissue, and builds up the higher it goes in the food chain. Albacore tuna have higher levels of mercury because they are older than the young tuna harvested for "canned light'' tuna, and thus have eaten more fish and accumulated more mercury in their tissues. Tuna steak is also high in mercury, the advisory says.
When fish is high in mercury, no preparation or cooking can reduce the toxin, said Dr. David Acheson, an FDA medical officer. Fish sticks and fast-food fish are usually made from fish that is low in mercury, the advisory said.
Others species could have been listed as low in mercury - such as tilapia and flounder, said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, a mercury expert at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway and head of the state's mercury task force.
He would have changed the "Do not eat'' category to "Do not eat more than once a month,'' and added yellow-fin tuna steak to that category. The National Consumers League praised what it called the FDA's "balanced" approach. With obesity rising in the United States, people should not be afraid to eat fish, the organization said.
The advisory comes as the federal government is considering a proposal to limit mercury pollution. The proposal has been attacked by New Jersey officials, environmentalists, and children's health advocates for doing too little too slowly to control pollution.
The need to warn consumers about eating fish because of pollution, while doing too little to control the pollution, troubles Goldburg, of the Environmental Defense Fund.
The Environmental Working Group, another advocacy group, has filed a legal challenge to the FDA's guidelines. The group believes if women followed the advice given Friday, the number of newborns exposed to mercury would rise. The organization called it a "giveaway'' to the seafood and coal industries, at the cost of children's health.
The head of the EPA's office on water defended the agency. "We all recognize that mercury is prevalent throughout the environment,'' Benjamin Grumbles said. "It is a toxin that needs to be controlled. I don't think there is a mixed message here.''