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Mercury
a common ingredient in N.C. fish
November 11, 2009
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
You
may like lemon juice or tartar sauce on your fish. What you
may not realize is that there’s another condiment added
to every serving of fish you eat:
Mercury.
This year, the U.S. Geological Survey released a report showing
mercury contamination in every sample of fish taken from 291
streams and rivers throughout the U.S.
Worse, North Carolina has the added distinction of being on
the short list of states with the highest levels of contamination
in the country. South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana
round out the list.
A national listing of fish advisories, available online from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, underscores this
reality. Small blue dots scattered throughout a map of the
U.S. indicate areas where contamination levels exceed safe
thresholds.
The eastern half of North Carolina is one solid mass of blue.
Why should you care? Mercury is a neurotoxin that causes learning
disabilities, lower IQs and developmental delays in babies
and children.
Emissions from coal-fired power plants spew mercury into the
air, and then it falls into rivers and streams. Forests and
wetlands in our state provide conditions that enhance the
conversion of mercury into methylmercury, a highly toxic form
that accumulates in fish.
What does this mean for fish-eaters in our state? I’ve
written about the dilemma of contaminated fish in previous
columns.
Fish is generally a far better food choice than poultry or
red meats. It’s lower in saturated fat and may contain
health-supporting omega-3 fatty acids.
When it’s laced with mercury or other contaminants,
though, the choice is not so clear.
If you eat fish caught in North Carolina or our neighboring
states, you need to know what you’re eating and make
sure it’s safe. For starters:
* Be aware and take care. Heed the advice of fish advisories.
Pregnant and nursing women, women in their childbearing years
(ages 15 to 44), and all children and teens under the age
of 15 are particularly vulnerable and need to avoid mercury-infused
fish.
The rest of us can eat up to one mercury-laced fish meal each
week. But do you really want to?
In North Carolina, freshwater fish highest in mercury content
include largemouth bass caught anywhere in the state and blackfish
(bowfin), catfish (wild-caught), jack fish (chain pickerel)
and warmouth caught south and east of Interstate 85.
A much longer list of ocean fish are also high in mercury,
including canned white tuna (albacore), king mackerel, orange
roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, fresh or frozen tuna,
south Atlantic grouper, marlin and others.
* Keep up with changes in the advisories. Current advice on
eating fish in North Carolina – and a list of fish highest
and lowest in mercury – is available online from the
North Carolina Division of Public Health at http://www.rabies.ncdhhs.gov/epi/fish/safefish.html.
* Support policies to clean up our state. Groups such as Environment
North Carolina and the North Carolina Sierra Club are working
to reduce pollution caused by coal-fired power plants in and
within the drift-zone of our state.
* Get your protein from plant sources. Beans, lentils, grains
and vegetables contain fewer contaminants in lower concentrations.
They also contain dietary fiber and health-supporting phytochemicals
not found in fish and other meats.
Aim for seasoning your foods with herbs and spices and work
to keep the methylmercury out of our environment and food.
Suzanne
Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian and clinical
associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and
Management and the Department of Nutrition in the UNC Gillings
School of Global Public Health. Send questions and comments
to suzanne@onthetable.net.
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