More bad news on mercury in fish:

[Dragfreedrift]

This is really getting out of hand, when will it stop?
They tell us fish are healthy to eat for the oils, but they dont tell us that there are unhealthy levels of mercury in much of the nations fish.

read here for the latest:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=4165

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2...5-09-13-10.asp


DFD

[garyk]

Wow, at 1ppm those swordfish are thermometers with fins...think I'll pass, thanks.

[skein]

Always look at who did the study. This one comes from Oceana, a group who would like to see just about all ocean fishing stopped. How better to do that than to sow fear of fish for food. The American Heart Association still recommends we eat a weekly diet that includes fish, and I don't think they're saying that just to drum up business.

Can you say "spin doctor"?

Skein

[PittsburghD]

Thanks for the balance Skein Brah!

--D

[weekender]

I read a study once that determined the air in most city’s is poor for your health to breath. Hmm, maybe so, but consider the alternative.

[finnedwonder]

Very interesting comment gary, I am no expert or really im not even a novice but isnt it interesting that species of fish that generally high in mercury levels are also fish that are temperature sensative...maybes its just a part of them...

[ArimaRees]

I do beleve that mercury in our fish is a serious problem but like many enviromental problems it takes money to fix and at this point the people in charge have decided to put off trying to solv the problems until there at crisis level

[Deepslayer]

Like Skein said. Anytime you get a report from "a coalition of environmental groups" take it with a grain of salt. It's kind of li PETA saying meat is full of poison!

[BIGALSURF]

As northwest fishermen of salmon and tuna it looks like we have no worries about mercury according to a website from Oregon State University.
http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpu...bs/g04003.html

Just catch and release those swordfish that keep stealing my herring from my tackle out there off Astoria and you should be safe.

Mercury in Tuna
The tuna issue is a complicated one. There is research showing that some large tunas, such as bluefin, can exceed the FDA limits. Part of the confusion is that, in the past, many of the reported results listed all tunas together, making no distinction among the species (albacore, skip-jack, bluefin, yellowfin, and so on). One can see tables in general publications such as Newsweek showing fresh-frozen tuna having 0.32 ppm, with no distinction among the different species. The range in the data is often very wide, for example, from 0.05 to 1.30 ppm, but it is not possible to differentiate between the species the way the data are reported. Therefore, a specific fishery, such as troll-caught West Coast albacore, is unfairly associated with other tuna species that might have higher levels of mercury. For example, a recent FDA study showed that canned albacore from common commercial brands had a higher average than canned “light” tuna. This is, in part, because the albacore in common brands are larger fish caught in the open Pacific, whereas “light” tuna is often the smaller skipjack species.

Seafood in the Pacific Northwest
The good news is that several species in the Pacific Northwest have been shown to have low mercury levels. Research work with troll-caught West Coast albacore showed levels below FDA and Canadian guidelines, which makes sense since coastal troll-caught albacore is small (10 to 24 pounds) compared to other commercially caught tunas. Salmon is very low in mercury, as are sardines, flounder, shrimp, and oysters. There are ongoing research projects to better define the amounts of mercury in fish and determine mercury levels of many of the species off the Pacific Northwest and differences that might occur in size and location.

[baitslinger]

Mercury in fish or otherwise is bad stuff. But the really sad truth is that literally millions of our own chidren have been exposed to much higher levels of mercury than this by simply getting their government mandated vaccinations? (My source, "Evidence of Harm" by David Kirby). Hard to believe but true. The government finally outlawed mercury in manufacture of childhood vaccines about three years ago, but so much of the old stuff is still on the shelves in Dr offices that newborns are still injected with it every day. BTW, Our own drug manufactures'still get to make and ship mercury laden vaccines to developing countries like china, etc? Where there were almost no cases of autism, now its increasing there at about 20 percent a year. Mercury is beieved to be the culprit, whether directly from vaccines or just pollution who knows? Also adults shoud be wary of flu shots which still contain the mercury, and it has been linked to alzheimers as well.

When it comes to mercury, I would be much more afraid of our own federal government and drug companies than I would be of eating a few fish.

[Get Bent]

Thats why i own Yamaha's never had any luck with Murcury's

[garyk]

Mercury...so where's it coming from?

This thread caused me to do some reading. In Oregon, much of our mercury is naturally occuring from eroded volcanic rock.

And we're upwind of the big coal-fired power plants that impact most of the nation...

Today, one in six American women has so much mercury in her womb that a child she carries is at risk for a grim inventory of afflictions, including blindness, mental retardation, kidney disease, and possibly even autism. These are expensive problems to treat and we all share the costs.

All fish in 19 states are now unsafe to eat because of mercury contamination and at least some fish in 48 states are unsafe. We know where most of the mercury comes from -- coal-fired power plants -- and we know how to clean it up. The technology is available and affordable. But the first thing Bush did when he entered office was to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency's mercury-emissions rules.

[Thumper]

So I guess I should quit shining my quarters with it? :whazzup:

That was a major hobby when I was a kid.

[garyk]

So I guess I should quit shining my quarters with it? That was a major hobby when I was a kid.

Me too. And nothing like rolling mercury around on hardwood floors. I guess our history explains a lot