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« Prioritize your food dollars with Dr. Greene | Main | Envirohealth in Blogs: Getting to the meat of things »

October 23, 2007

A fish called Sally: The truth about mercury, omega 3s, and pregnancy

Washington Post reporter Sally Squires toed the fishing industry line in her front-page article on the recommendations issued by the industry through the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. Criticism from reporters and health advocates, as well as a statement from The Post’s Ombudsman, lead Squires to write a follow-up article on the subject of fish consumption.

Unfortunately, some people just can’t admit their mistakes. Squires doesn’t correct the record or apologize for misleading her readers, and to top it off the column reads like it was written by the fishing industry itself.

Squires could have owned up to her mistakes and her role in perpetuating industry-created confusion. If she had, here’s how today’s column would have read.

Earlier this month I wrote an article about a set of recommendations issued by the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. Their report, urging women to eat a minimum of 12 ounces of fish per week, ran contrary to FDA and EPA advisories. Due partially to mistakes on my part and partially to information that had not yet come to light, that story went to press with four important points omitted or misstated:

• The first paragraph of my October 4th article attributes the recommendations to top scientists and federal agencies. In fact, not a single top scientist or federal agency has backed the report or its findings. Clearly this fact changes the nature of the rest of the article; the recommendations carry little weight without the backing of respected scientists.
  
• The coalition members that I listed, including The American Academy of Pediatrics, the March of Dimes, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, did not support the recommendations and in fact had never even seen the report. The recommendations were issued by the coalition’s board of directors and were not screened by member organizations.
  
• The National Fisheries Institute, an industry organization, funded aspects of the report and its publicity. NFI paid scientists involved $1,500 plus travel expenses to attend the meeting at which they wrote the recommendations. NFI also paid $60,000 for an educational campaign to inform mothers of the coalition’s recommendations. Furthermore, the public relations group Burson-Marsteller (which represents the fishing industry) is facilitating the promotion of the report. Hampton Shaddock, a managing director at Burston-Marsteller, is also the vice-chairman of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies coalition.
  
• The coalition’s recommendations are not “backed up by the preponderance of science,” as Dr. Frank Greer, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told my colleague Marian Burros at The New York Times.
  

I regret all of these errors, but I’d like to pay special attention to the last point.

There is an illusion of controversy and confusion around fish consumption. The Maternal Nutrition Group, who wrote the coalition’s recommendations, cited five studies that appear to support their case, but the bulk of the evidence demonstrates the risks to pregnant women of eating fish contaminated with methyl mercury. There is agreement in the scientific community, and I want to be perfectly clear about it:

There is a consensus that women of childbearing age should avoid eating fish that are high in mercury, and that they should limit their seafood consumption to 12 ounces per week or less.

Health advocates advise women to choose low-mercury fish, such as

• salmon
  
• sardines
  
• tilapia
  
• anchovies
  
• shrimp, and
  
• light tuna
  

Women should avoid fish known to be high in methyl mercury, such as

• albacore tuna
  
• king mackerel
  
• swordfish, and
  
• shark
  

The health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids are indisputable, so women should particularly seek fish that are high in omega 3s while remaining low in methyl mercury, or find alternate sources of omega-3s (such as fish oil supplements or flaxseed oil).

Health advocates would love to see the FDA release a comprehensive list of fish that should be avoided or eaten only in moderation during pregnancy, as well as other low-mercury sources of omega-3s. Until they do, though, you can refer to this chart, or to this Safe Fish List compiled by the Environmental Working Group.

Previous coverage on Enviroblog:
Mothers told, "Eat fish! No wait, don't eat fish!"
This Enviroblog post has not been sponsored by the seafood industry
Blog Action Day Tip: Know your source

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