The One That Got Away. FDA Fails to Protect the Public From High Mercury Levels in Seafood

The Paper:

Michael Bender of Mercury Policy Project and Jane Williams of California Communities Against Toxics. April, 2000.

Review The Executive Summary of this Paper:
http://www.mercurypolicy.org/exposure/documents/one_that_got_away.pdf

The Purpose of this Paper:

To state both the viewpoints of - and the criticisms by - several activist groups about how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is regulating methylmercury in the types of fish Americans eat.
These activist groups include the:
1. Mercury Policy Project;
2. Tides Center;
3. Sierra Club;
4. Clean Water Action; and
5. California Communities Against Toxi

Some Background, Methods, Results, Caveats, and Other Select Points:

This is not a peer-reviewed, scientific paper.
This paper was distributed in 2000.
In 2000, these authors believe that the FDA methylmercury testing program is severely lacking in thoroughness, depth, and degree. They also believe that the FDA methylmercury testing program has a disturbing trend to conduct less and less methylmercury testing of all types of fish - and to actually stop testing some of the types of fish Americans eat.
The authors state that the FDA’s data from testing methylmercury levels in seafood show that only 13 cans of tuna were tested in 1995.
Reportedly, the FDA tested no cans of tuna for methylmercury levels in 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
The authors claim that the FDA did not check methylmercury levels in large tuna in 1998 and checked just two of the large tuna in 1997.
In 2000, FDA data show that significant amounts of seafood with methylmercury levels exceeding the FDA methylmercury action level of 1 part per million (one part of methylmercury for every one million parts of tuna meat) are routinely sold throughout the United States. The FDA methylmercury testing results indicate that 36% of swordfish, 33% of shark, and about 4% of large tuna tested for methylmercury exceeded the FDA methylmercury action level.
In 2000, the authors claim that the FDA does little methylmercury testing in other types of fish believed to have high methylmercury levels including:
1. Bonito;
2. Mackerel;
3. King mackerel;
4. Halibut; and
5. Marlin.
In 2000, the authors state that the FDA no longer domestically checks methylmercury levels in:

Tuna;
Swordfish; or
Shark

The authors then revisit the three, major, accidental, mercury poisonings of a few hundred people globally.
1. Some Japanese fishing villagers in the 1950s lived next to a huge, Japanese, industrial facility that for many years intentionally and legally dumped great quantities of chemical industrial waste containing extremely high levels of mercury into the ocean bay where these local fishing villagers lived on the fish they caught in that ocean bay. Worse yet, the daily ocean tides did not flush out the industrial waste from this ocean bay into the greater ocean where the pollution may have been diluted. As a result, several hundred, Japanese, fishing villagers were poisoned by the extremely high levels of methylmercury in the fish they lived-on that they caught in that heavily-mercury-polluted, ocean bay. These extremely high levels of mercury pollution in the ocean bay accumulated in the local fish that resulted in these fishing villagers living-on fish contaminated with extremely high levels of methylmercury. Some of these people suffered from methylmercury poisoning.
This happened in Japan again just a few years later in the late 1950s to some more Japanese fishing villagers who also lived on the fish they caught locally. These other Japanese fishing villagers lived just downstream from yet another huge, Japanese, industrial facility that also intentionally and legally dumped great quantities of chemical industrial waste containing extremely high levels of mercury into the passing river. This river soon emptied into the ocean where these fishing villagers lived and caught the fish they lived on. Again these extremely high levels of mercury pollution in the river and ocean waters accumulated in the local fish that resulted in some fishing villagers living on fish extremely contaminated with methylmercury. Some of these people also suffered from methylmercury poisoning.

Some Iraqi peasants in the 1970s who lived in one or more, very remote, small villages made bread and other human foods from seed grain given to them that was solely intended for planting and growing crops. This grain was intentionally and properly treated with methylmercury to prevent fungi from attacking the seed once planted in the soil.

Because the grain was now poisonous, it was intentionally dyed a bright red color. A “skull and crossbones” was also placed on every bag of this treated seed grain to tell everyone that this grain was poisonous. Unfortunately, a “skull and crossbones” meant absolutely nothing to these remote Iraqi villagers.

Once the Iraqi villagers finally washed and soaked away most of the red dye, they believed that the grain was then totally safe to grind into flour for making bread and other foods for them to eat. Some of these Iraqi villagers suffered from methylmercury poisoning.

The authors state in 2000 that environmental mercury levels continue to increase as do the number of states that issue mercury warnings for some freshwater fish. These fish-eating warnings reportedly increased from 28 states in 1993 to 40 states in 2000.
These two authors refer to some recent studies they believe indicate that atmospheric mercury levels increased an average 8% each year between 1990 and 1996 - and that people (and not Nature such as volcanic eruptions, etc) are responsibl e for about 50-75% of the total mercury released.
In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believed that more than 150 tons of mercury is released into the environment each year from numerous sources.
Americans are eating more seafood as they are encouraged to eat more fish to improve their health and to reduce their risks from cancer.
Women are particularly encouraged to eat more fish during pregnancy. The authors believe that the possible bad affects on the unborn child from eating fish that contain some levels of methylmercury are often overlooked.
Americans eat about 25% more fish in 2000 compared to 1980, with a recent increase from 1997 to 1998. Part of this increase is due to Americans eating more large tuna (typically sold as fresh tuna steaks or used to make sushi) and canned tuna. Some states apparently recommend that pregnant women eat less of these particular types of fish because of the methylmercury these types of fish contain.
Americans eat about 19 pounds of fish each year. About 15 pounds (or 75%) of that is seafood.
The authors mention that an EPA Mercury Study Report to The U.S. Congress estimates that 7 million U.S. women and children are at risk from mercury exposure because they eat methylmercury-contaminated fish.

A Bottom Line:
These two authors believe that the FDA seafood methylmercury action level is not effectively used to inform the American public about methylmercury in seafood (which includes fish). They also believe that the FDA seafood methylmercury action level is out of date and does not protect the U.S. public health.

The authors believe that it is important to remember that the FDA seafood methylmercury action level was established more than 20 years ago when Americans ate much less fish. The FDA seafood methylmercury action level was established before several, new, scientific studies were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals that these authors believe indicate that nervous system damage is caused by methylmercury in the unborn child at lower methylmercury levels than previously believed.

The authors conclude by listing the six recommendations from The Mercury Policy Project that these authors believe will improve the U.S. methylmercury-seafood situation.

Find This Scientific Paper for Your Review:
The One That Got Away. FDA Fails to Protect the Public From High Mercury Levels in Seafood. April, 2000.
http://www.mercurypolicy.org/exposure/documents/one_that_got_away.pdf

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