Bright Horizons, Staff Writer
Published July 15, 2003
Tuna Salad on Rye - Hold the Tuna? There have been a number of news stories regarding possible health risks of eating too much tuna fish, which reportedly may contain levels of mercury. How much tuna fish is too much, and for whom? The Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to warn pregnant women and children to limit consumption of canned tuna, one of the most popular fish in America, due to mercury contamination. The Committee also advised the FDA to test seafood and warn sensitive populations not to consume fish exceeding the FDA's action level of 1 part per million. Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said, "Pregnant women and children should limit canned tuna consumption and avoid fresh tuna steaks and sushi, if made from tuna or other fish with high mercury levels."
The mercury in fish, if eaten in large quantities, can damage a fetus and result in irreversible neurological problems such as impaired vision and memory, delayed walking and language, and even cerebral palsy. Infants and young children may also be more at risk from mercury exposure. Last year, the FDA advised pregnant women and those who could become pregnant not to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. But at the same time, the FDA noted that eating twelve ounces of the right sort of fish each week is healthy. Ten states - Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, Washington, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin ˆ have posted advisories warning pregnant women to limit consumption of canned tuna. Six states also warn children to limit consumption of tuna. But not all agree that warnings need to be issued for the consumption of tuna fish. The tuna industry dismissed the activist group's findings, saying they were based on too small a sample to be valid. "I would say this is completely an overreaction," said Randi Thomas of the U.S. Tuna Foundation Trade Group representing the canned-tuna industry. "It's very clear that pregnant women can safely consume up to twelve ounces of a variety of fish each week without any problems whatsoever," said Thomas. Like many issues involving environmental risks, we all have to sort through the claims and counterclaims and determine our own level of comfort. Only one thing remains clear: mercury is bad for human beings in particular developing fetuses and children.
The Mercury Policy Project, based in Vermont, issued the report warning that one of every twenty cans of white or albacore tuna sold in the United States may contain unsafe levels of mercury. Mercury in tuna and other kinds of fish is largely due to pollution from industrial plants and coal-fired utilities. White or albacore tuna accounts for about one-third of the canned tuna sold in the United States. (Not all tuna may be equal – the Oregon Health Department said canned tuna marked "chunk light" or "chunk" has less mercury than tuna marked "solid white" or "chunk white.")
The Mercury Policy Project said it randomly bought 48 cans of different brands of albacore tuna from grocery stores across the nation and had them tested by an independent laboratory. More than six percent of the samples contained mercury at or above the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's so-called "action level" of 1 part per million (ppm). "Because the FDA halted testing of canned tuna for mercury in 1998 to save money and because the industry keeps its results secret, some parents are unknowingly exposing their children to high mercury levels," Michael Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project, said in a statement.
Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C. backed the study and recommended that women of childbearing age not eat tuna steaks, sea bass, and oysters from the Gulf Coast, marlin, halibut, pike, walleye, white croaker, and largemouth bass. The study suggested that women should eat the following fish only once a month: canned tuna, mahi mahi, blue mussels, Eastern oysters, cod, pollock, Great Lakes salmon, blue crab from the Gulf of Mexico, wild channel catfish, and lake whitefish.
