Many of us love to eat fish. We’re told that it’s healthy, that it benefits our hearts, blood vessels, and brains, and that it helps keep us from gaining excess weight. Fish can be delicious, but if you’re someone who enjoys consuming it, it’s important that you make your choice about which fish to eat carefully. A new study conducted by the Biodiversity Research Institute in Gorham, Maine, an unprecedented eighty-four percent of the world’s fish are laden with mercury, making them unsafe for human consumption.
How Mercury Affects Humans
Mercury adversely affects human health in a number of ways. Historically used in the manufacturing of items like light bulbs, thermometers, and various chemicals, the element is also present in volcanic eruptions and smoke from coal-fired power plants, as well as in chemical fungicides and pesticides. Once it becomes airborne, mercury vapor is transformed into a liquid or solid that makes its way into the water and soil. At this point, it enters the food chain, usually when it is taken up by plankton and algae. As small fish and other marine animals eat plants that contain mercury, and as those animals are consumed by larger ones, the concentration of mercury within the animals’ body accumulates at greater and greater levels. As you might suspect, we humans bioaccumulate mercury just as we do other toxins; especially when we consume larger, older fish that bear higher mercury loads.
Since mercury is a naturally occurring element, you might think it is not harmful. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Approximately 630,000 newborn babies suffer from brain and nervous system development due to in vitro mercury exposure. As these children grow, they suffer memory deficits, problems with cognition, language, spatial and visual skills, and difficulty with motor skills.
The health problems mercury causes are not limited to newborns. People who consume lots of fish containing mercury can suffer from vision problems, a lack of physical coordination, speech, motion, and hearing impairment, and muscle weakness. Permanent brain damage and kidney damage can also occur.
Health experts advise consumers to be careful when choosing which fish to consume and which to avoid, which is why the new study is so important.
Most Fish Unsafe Due to High Mercury Levels
Scientists have long known that eating fish is the main way people end up suffering from mercury poisoning. The species that contain the highest levels include swordfish and tuna, and no matter where you live, you may be at risk if you consume these species. Most of the tuna we eat swim through the South China Sea, which is heavily polluted. But that’s not all; fish samples taken from all over the world regularly exceed “safe” levels. Fish sourced from Uruguay and Japan had such high mercury levels that no consumption is currently recommended.
Currently, the United Nations is to create a new treaty that could help put a stop to practices that cause the release of mercury into the environment. Unfortunately, this element never goes away. Even if new regulations are set in place, people will still be at risk of being poisoned if they consume too much mercury-laden fish. Until science proves large predatory fish are safe to eat, stick to smaller vegetarian species. You can check with the Marine Stewardship Council to find out which choices are best.