Fish Lovers Beware: High Levels of Mercury in Fish

Swordfish

I personally love to eat seafood and I am a big fan of sushi, however, I am getting a little weary about the high levels of mercury, which I wasn't aware of until recently.

The rising levels of mercury found in our waters are mainly caused by power plants (especially coal-buring plants) and is also found in rocks. The EPA and other Public Interest groups are working on reducing the levels of mercury getting into our water, but so far things don't seem to be that much better so we should be aware.

The accumulation of mercury in larger fish, accomplished by eating smaller fish that have eaten mercury, can cause damaging effects to our nervous system. It's bad enough that the fish have to endure high levels of mercury in their system, and for it to be consumed by even larger animals would cause an even greater affect.

Are there other factors that contribute to the accumulation of high levels of mercury in your blood? Well, there are other sources for mercury, which is found even in the air, water and in our food, but in small quantities, but more commonly, the form of mercury this is most is toxic is methylmercury, a very potent toxin, which is found in fish. There are also alarming levels of mercury found in fish in lakes and reservoirs in Washington.

This is not to say you can't or shouldn't eat fish, but just be aware. Some fish to avoid more so than others include swordfish, mackerel, whale and certain types of tuna.

Unfortunately, this problem with mercury goes beyond fish and opens up even more concerns with regards to our environment, way of life, pollution and other issues.

Feel free to click on the links below for more info.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/184782_fish04.html - Washington Lakes
http://www.betterhealthchannel.com.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf
/pages/Mercury_in_fish?OpenDocument
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/21/MNGKH9D3KO1.DTL
http://medicalnewstoday.com/newssearch.php?newsid=19747 - Medical News