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« Nail biters in Taiwan beware | Main | This Enviroblog post has not been funded by the seafood industry »
Mothers told: "Eat fish! No wait, don't eat fish!"
In an interesting turn of events, a coalition of top scientists announced yesterday that pregnant and nursing women should eat more fish.
The position is at odds with the FDA's 2001 recommendation, reiterated in 2004, that pregnant and nursing women should limit the amount of fish they eat in order to avoid mercury toxicity. Scientists from the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition said yesterday that the benefits derived from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish outweigh the risks of mercury poisoning; omega-3s contain nutrients important to developing brain and nervous systems.
Interestingly, the numbers aren't that different. The FDA recommends that pregnant and nursing women eat no more than 12 ounces of fish per week, while scientists yesterday recommended women eat at least 12 ounces per week.
So what's an expectant mom to do? Taken together, the scientists make it sound like 12 ounces per week is the magic number. And even that may be too much, unless you're eating only fish with low mercury content. And there's always supplements, although a colleague of mine points out that it's important to choose distilled fish oil if that's the route you decide to go.
And now for the obvious: how absurd is it that we should have to limit our consumption of one of the most nutritive foods there is because of man-made pollution? Maybe if we'd just stop spewing mercury into the water, we wouldn't have to worry so much about eating it.
Two important and growing campaigns are currently underway to help protect our seafood from mercury contamination. Here’s what you can do to help:
1. Pressure chlor-alkai plants to switch to mercury-free technology.
Chlorine plants are often overlooked as mercury polluters; however, a mercury cell chlor-alkai plant emits on average four times as much mercury as a coal burning plant. While mercury-free technology is available, and many companies have switched over- four plants remain that are not mercury-free (in Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia). They’re making major and completely preventable contributions to the global mercury crisis.
2. . Ask your grocery store to post signs warning people about mercury in seafood.
People don’t know the FDA warnings that are designed to help protect pregnant women and children from mercury contamination in seafood. These advisories need to be made available and visible when/where people need them- at your local grocery store’s seafood counter. See which stores post the warning signs (such as Whole Foods and Safeway), and stores that do not (i.e. Costco and Giant)- and ask these stores to post signs to help protect their consumers!