A joint scientific effort by the National Environmental Research Institute in Denmark, the Geological Survey of Canada, and Environment Canada, answers the question of how much mercury concentrations in the Arctic is natural and how much is man-made. Through the tests of Arctic marine wildlife teeth, hair and feathers, and comparisons with historical samples, they found that mercury levels rose in the mid-19th century and accelerated in the 20th century. The sharp increase corresponds to the industrial revolution. Although there is no major mercury source in the region, mercury pollution is brought to the area through the atmosphere, ocean currents, and rivers. The study found that the average man-made contribution to current mercury concentrations is 92.4%. The significant increase in mercury concentrations in marine foodwebs in the Arctic have reached dangerous levels where negative biological consequences are expected. People living in these areas and eating at the top of this food chain may see neurological development disorders in their children.
Category Archives: Mercury Exposure
Exposure to mercury
New Studies Show Mercury in All Fish, Levels Rising in U.S. Women
Multiple studies released in August 2009 provide evidence of rising mercury contamination of the environment, fish and people. The evidence that mercury levels have risen in people in the past several years is presented in a report released by UCLA, Assessment of chronic mercury exposure within the U.S. population, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2006. While inorganic mercury was found in the blood of 2% of women in 1999, it was found in 30% of the women by 2006. Another U.S. study, Mercury in Fish, Bed Sediment, and Water from Streams Across the United States, 1998–2005, found mercury in all the sampled fish, with 27% exceeding levels safe for human consumption. A third study indicates that mercury levels in fish were elevated in pristine forested or woody-wetlands in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Duke University environmental engineers explain this phenomenon in a study of their own: How Mercury Becomes Toxic in the Environment.
Asian Coal Plants Linked to 30% Increase in Pacific Ocean Water Mercury Levels
Recent analysis of ocean water samples across the Pacific point to Asian coal plants as the likely source of dramatic increases total mercury levels in the North Pacific Ocean over the last 20 years. If present trends continue, the U.S. Geological Survey report projects a doubling of oceanic mercury concentrations by the year 2050. Oceanic mercury is converted to MethylMercury by algae, and then bioaccumulates up the food chain as algae is eaten by fish. Fish harvested from the Pacific Ocean are a major contributor to human MethylMercury exposure, which is why scientists are focusing on the important health and ecological concern of the source of the oceanic mercury. For more inforamtion see highlights on the USGS website.
MPP Submits Comments on FDA’s Flawed Fish Consumption Risk-Benefit Assessment
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a draft “Quantitative Risk and Benefit Assessment of Commercial Fish Consumption,” for public comment. Attention to the unscientifc nature of the FDA’s assessment was contained in a letter to the FDA submitted by MPP and 10 other public interest groups and experts in the field.
MPP also submitted lengthy Technical Comments on the FDA draft. MPP’s comments were prepared by its consultant, Dr. Edward Groth, who worked as a senior scientist for Consumers Union for nearly 25 years on environmental health, food safety and risk communication. Dr. Groth emphasized, “While FDA’s analysis suggests that the benefits outweigh the risks for the average person, that point is misleading. The focus instead should be on ways to ensure benefits while minimizing risks—a “win/win” solution—by educating consumers to choose low-mercury fish.” Using data from the FDA’s own analysis, MPP’s comments show that tuna fish alone accounts for 37 percent of all the mercury in the American diet, and about 20 other varieties of fish and shellfish are also relatively high in mercury. But there is plenty of good news: Two-thirds of the total market for fish and shellfish is low in mercury, and 9 of the 11 top-selling items are low-mercury choices.
Mercury is Global Health Concern Warranting Immediate UN Action
As the world’s governments convene next week to discuss developing a legally binding treaty on mercury, over twenty groups from around the world have co-released a new MPP report calling attention to the global human health hazards caused by mercury in fish and fish-eating marine mammals. The study, released by the international Zero Mercury Working Group, indicates that the health impacts of methylmercury in fish and fish-eating marine mammals are substantial, and demand an effective response from governments and the United Nations. “Mercury contamination of fish and mammals is a global public health concern,” said MPP Director Bender. “Our study of fish tested in different locations around the world shows that widely accepted international exposure levels for methylmercury are exceeded, often by wide margins, in each country and area covered.”
According to the report, “Mercury in Fish: An Urgent Global Health Concern” (11MB), the risk is greatest for populations whose per capita fish consumption is high, and in areas where pollution has elevated the average mercury content of fish. But methylmercury hazards also exist where per capita fish consumption and average mercury levels in fish are comparatively low. In cultures where fish-eating marine mammals are part of the traditional diet, mercury in these animals can add substantially to total dietary exposure. For additional information, see www.zeromercury.org.
MPP and Allies Urge President Obama to Support Treaty to Reduce Mercury Exposure
At a meeting this morning with the Department of State, MPP and other representatives of various groups urged the United States Government to support a legally binding treaty to reduce mercury exposure next week at a UNEP Governing Council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The groups plan on distributing a letter signed by 50 U.S.-based groups and another 40 abroad urging President Barack Obama (and copied to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, CEQ Director Nancy Sutley and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson) to support a global mercury treaty. “The upcoming United Nations meeting will provide the Obama administration with its first opportunity on the world stage to demonstrate a real change in the U.S. approach to international environmental issues,” said Michael Bender, MPP director (see press release). “We strongly recommend an approach that embraces cooperation and leadership, rather than the obstruction and inaction we have seen from the previous administration.”
New Report Shows Need for Strong FDA Advice on Mercury in Fish
Today, a parent of a mercury-poisoning victim joined a medical doctor and an advocacy group in refuting the FDA’s new proposal to stop warning pregnant women and children about mercury in fish. In 2004, the FDA joined EPA in releasing advice to restrict the species and amounts of fish eaten by women of childbearing age and children due to exposure risks to mercury. On Friday, in a draft report submitted to the Bush White House, the FDA indicated that they were planning not only to rescind that advice, but recommend that sensitive populations eat more mercury-contaminated fish.
“Talk about getting hooked on fish stories,” said Michael Bender, MPP, Director of the Mercury Policy Project, which just released a new case study exposure report. “FDA has really gone overboard this time by casting out the science and reeling in the industry ‘line’ instead,” Bender said, referring to an industry report released prior to the FDA report that reached strikingly similar conclusions. “Real people have been sickened by mercury in fish, demonstrating the importance of strong FDA advice on mercury in fish.” The new MPP report, Over the Limit, shares stories of people who each ate enough store-bought fish to suffer mercury’s effects, according to their physicians. From New Jersey to Wisconsin to California, these stories show that seafood contamination is a very real problem that should not be ignored.
Seafood and Sushi Lovers Can Now Check Mercury Levels on the Go
Shoppers and diners can use any cell phone web browser to enter their weight and fish choice to estimate low, moderate or high level dose of mercury based on U. S. government guidelines. The cell phone calculator compliments the GotMercury.Org web version. Fish consumption is the primary source of mercury exposure in the United States. In addition, AJR 57, introduced into the California legislature by Rep.Huffman on mercury-contaminated seafood passed this year and urges the federal Food and Drug Administration to take responsibility for, and take actions to reduce, the public’s exposure to mercury in seafood by taking specified actions.
New Book Documents Methyl Mercury Poisoning from Tuna and other Seafood
An important new book recently came out on exposure risks of methylmercury from high mercury fish consumption, Diagnosis: Mercury; Money, Politics & Poison, by Jane M. Hightower, M.D. The book covers mercury exposure issues, lackadaisical oversight by courts of justice and government agencies, and seafood industry interference in public policy. A list of symptoms associated with mercury illness are summarized at the Diagnosis: Mercury website. “Dr. Hightower passionately argues that we still need numbers and hard facts; without them consumers cannot make appropriate informed choices. Hightower has worked long and hard on this fight to make the dangers of mercury public and this important new book highlights the long and lonely quest she has fought to help get us where we are today,” said U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, in support of the book.
Oceana/MPP Study Shows High Tuna Levels
Mercury has again been in the news with the release of new data on mercury levels in tuna sushi by the New York Times and Oceana/Mercury Policy Project study. While the results were startling–around 1 of 3 pieces of tuna tested had levels above FDA’s action level of 1 PPM–the attack by special interests against those covering the news was swift and erroneous. Seemingly, according to these special interests, everyone including pregnant women and children could eat as much high mercury fish as they wanted, without any risk. In response, 29 mercury experts from 11 countries signed on to the following open letter to set the record straight.