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Fish contaminants - Example 1: Mercury in fish"In 2003, the Codex Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), administered by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO), revised the guideline for mercury in fish to 1.6 micrograms of methyl mercury intake per day per kilogram of body weight, nearly half the original guideline of 3.3 micrograms.1 At the same time, the JECFA review emphasized that people should continue to eat a normal diet of fish, pointing out its many health benefits. Included in its considerations was the recently released Seychelles Islands study, which analyzed mother and child pairs and fish consumption for almost ten years. That study determined that high levels of fish consumption led to no adverse effect to a foetus or child’s neurodevelopment. In order to translate the recommended weekly intake of mercury into national maximum mercury levels in fish it is necessary to take into account consumption patterns, other sources of mercury intake and other relevant information. However, public pressure often leads to consumer confusion between the maximal allowable levels necessary to protect human health and the limits recommended to protect the environment. The latter require that appropriate actions be taken consistently and for a significant period of time in order to reduce the environmental burden of the contaminant. In the case of mercury, for example, proper energy policies would be required to reduce reliance on coal-fired power stations and the reduction of waste incineration; these two factors combined account for 70 percent of new, human-made mercury emissions to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, a number of media articles and public health warnings exacerbated the pre-existing consumer confusion and sent out conflicting messages regarding the health benefits of fish and seafood and the mercury risks from fish to the point that local authorities in California, the United States, instructed grocery retailers to display signs cautioning consumers about the dangers of mercury in fish and threatened to sue those that did not abide. Since then, the Food and Drug Administration (US Food and Drug Administration) and Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in the United States have released a consumer advisory document along the lines of the recent JECFA guidelines but stressing that fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet. Despite this measure, the tuna industry considers that the damage already inflicted will be difficult to repair." Source:
FAO "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2004" For further information on the health effects of Mercury:
read the GreenFacts summary |
