MERCURY in Fish Report

FOOD SAFETY & SUSTAINABILITY CENTER MERCURY In fish Report CONSUMER REPORTS Food Safety and Sustainability Center A Current Contributors to the Consumer Reports CR Advisers Dr. Mary Sheehan is a consultant in environ- Chantelle Norton is an artist and designer and is Food Safety and Sustainability Center mental health. As Associate Faculty at the Johns a lead designer of Consumer Reports’ Food Safety Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and and Sustainability Center reports. She has worked The following individuals are currently associated with Consumer Reports Food Safety and the Pompeu Fabra University she also teaches and in many fields of design, from fashion to print to Sustainability Center. Highlights of their roles and expertise are provided below. researches on policies to reduce health risks from costume to graphic design. She lives in the Lower global environmental pollutants such as meth- Hudson Valley with a medley of animals, includ- CR Scientists ylmercury and from the impacts of a changing ing her pet chickens. Her latest paintings take the climate. In various positions at the World Bank her chicken as muse and feature portraits of her feath- leads Consumer Reports’ is a Senior Scientist Dr. Urvashi Rangan Dr. Michael K. Hansen work focused on improving urban environmental ered friends in landscapes inspired by the Hudson Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group and with Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy infrastructure and policies in low- and middle-in- Valley and Ireland. serves as the Executive Director of its Food Safety arm of Consumer Reports. He works primarily come countries. Dr. Sheehan received her Ph.D. in and Sustainability Center. Dr. Rangan directs all of on food safety issues, including pesticides, and environmental risk management from the Johns the organization’s food-safety testing and research has been largely responsible for developing the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. in addition to the scientific risk assessments organization’s positions on the safety, testing and related to food and product safety, which she labeling of genetically engineered food and mad translates into actionable recommendations for cow disease. Dr. Hansen served on the Depart- lawmakers and consumers. She is an environmen- ment of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on tal health scientist and toxicologist and is a leading Agricultural Biotechnology from 1998 to 2002 and b expert, watchdog, and spokesperson on food label- on the California Department of Food and Agri- ing and food safety. Dr. Rangan received her Ph.D. culture Food Biotechnology Advisory Committee from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. from 2001 to 2002. Charlotte Vallaeys is a senior policy analyst and Dr. Keith Newsom-Stewart is a Statistical Pro- writer for the Consumer Reports’ Food Safety and gram Leader at Consumer Reports. During his Sustainability Center. She focuses on sustainability tenure, he has worked on a wide range of projects, and justice in the food system and works on a vari- including those related to meat, seafood, and ety of food policy and food safety issues, including poultry safety and food additives. He specializes in food labeling and organic policy. She regularly linear and nonlinear mixed models, experimental attends National Organic Standards Board meet- design, and analysis of complex surveys. Prior to ings as a watchdog for the organic label and has coming to CR, he worked for the Cornell Biomet- done work for the National Organic Coalition. She rics Unit and College of Veterinary Medicine. His previously worked as Policy Director at The Cornu- educational background is in statistics, general copia Institute. She received her master’s degree in biology, and genetics. He is an adjunct math pro- theological studies from Harvard University, where fessor at Western Connecticut State University and she studied social and environmental ethics, and a a member of the American Statistical Association. master’s of science in nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. CR Communications Jennifer Shecter is the Director of Content Impact Dr. Doris Sullivan is the Associate Director for & Corporate Outreach. In this capacity, she man- Product Safety in Consumer Reports’ Consumer ages the center’s partnerships and relationships, Safety and Sustainability Group. She oversees coordinates its overall public service activities, and product safety testing, research, and prioritization. pursues strategic initiatives to build support for its She is also an expert in compiling and analyzing mission. She has been with Consumer Reports for large datasets. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry more than a decade, serving first in its Communi- from Boston University and completed postdoc- cations Department, promoting food and product toral research at the Free University of Brussels safety issues, then working as the Senior Adviser and University of Pennsylvania. to the President—writing speeches, op-eds, and briefing materials—and advising on key organiza- tional issues. Contents Introduction �� 4 Seafood and Safety - Why Our Choices Matter �� 5 Mercury in Fish - Health Effects��5 How Does Mercury Get Into Fish ��5 Methodology �� 6 Other Considerations That Can Impact Specific Recommendations �� 7 Environmental Considerations ��7 PCB Considerations ��7 Bacteria Considerations ��7 The Recommendations �� 8 Fish and Shellfish in General ��8 Tuna �� 10 Endnotes ��11 2 Mercury in Fish Report August 2014 CONSUMER REPORTS Food Safety and Sustainability Center 3 Seafood and Safety — Why Our Choices Matter MERCURY IN FISH — HEALTH EFFECTS be reduced to 2 or 3 micrograms of mercury per Varying amounts of mercury occur in almost all liter of blood. seafood, with some types containing more of The New York City study also found that blood the toxin than others. People are exposed to this mercury levels in adults who reported consuming toxin mostly through the consumption of fish and fish or shellfish very frequently were 3.7 times the shellfish. When you eat seafood containing meth- levels in those who reported no fish or shellfish ylmercury (a form of mercury that builds up in fish consumption. and shellfish), more than 95 percent is absorbed, HOW DOES MERCURY GET INTO FISH? passing into your bloodstream. It can move Mercury, like other heavy metals, occurs naturally throughout your body, where it can penetrate cells in the environment, but humans have increased its in any tissue or organ. presence in the atmosphere and oceans. Coal com- Consuming too much mercury can damage the bustion, chlorine alkali processing, waste incinera- brain and nervous system. This is of special con- tion, and metal processing are the primary sources cern during human development in the womb. from human activity. Best estimates to date Mercury crosses the placenta and concentrates suggest that human activity has about doubled or in fetal tissues and can potentially damage the tripled the amount of mercury in the atmosphere, brain at a critical stage of development. “The and the atmospheric burden is increasing by about brain undergoes a series of complex developmen- 1.5 percent per year. Mercury gets into oceans tal stages that need to be completed in the right and lakes from the atmosphere primarily through sequence and at the right time,” explains Philippe rainfall. Grandjean, M.D., an adjunct professor at the Mercury levels in the northern Pacific Ocean Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and have risen about 30 percent over the past 20 years a leading researcher. A pregnant woman’s intake Introduction and are expected to increase by 50 percent more of methylmercury from fish could reach the fetus contains mercury in recommended list types of fish that are low in mer- by 2050 as industrial emissions increase, accord- lmost all seafood within hours and could leave a permanent deficit varying amounts, and getting too much of it cury but caught or farmed in ways that can cause ing to a 2009 study led by researchers at the U.S. at a critical time, he says. canA damage the brain and nervous system. That is major environmental damage. Geological Survey and Harvard University. And an Children and adults who eat too much especially true for fetuses, but children and adults We also took a close look at tuna, which is one analysis of mercury by researchers at the Univer- high-mercury seafood can also suffer harmful who eat too much high-mercury seafood can also of the most popular

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