My Mercury Poisoning

Nutritionally, fish may seem like your friend. But the mercury in many fish can cause everything from miscarriage and heart problems in adults to mental retardation in babies. Actress Daphne Zuniga, who was lucky enough to get early treatment, spotlights the growing threat.

Tuna on Rye—Hold the Mercury, Please
I'm one of the most health-conscious people I know. I do yoga, meditate, hike, run. I don't eat meat, so fish has been my primary source of protein. Tuna on Caesar salad—you can't beat that for lunch. And yellowtail sushi—clean, nutritious, melt-in-your-mouth yummy. Every time I grilled fish or ordered it at a restaurant, I felt I was making a healthy choice.

Then late last year, after learning about the risk of mercury poisoning with a high-fish diet, I got tested. Just for the heck of it; I didn't expect problems. When the doctor told me my numbers were double the normal, "safe" level of mercury, I thought there was a mistake—didn't she know how healthy I was? I asked about the symptoms of mercury poisoning. Muscle aches, I was told, plus blurred vision, depression, inability to concentrate, memory loss, skin rashes. As I listened, I thought, check, check, check.

About 6 percent of women of childbearing age have levels of mercury above those deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. That means their unborn children are at risk for mental retardation, learning disabilities and impaired hearing.

Mercury is a potent brain poison. How does so much of it get into our bodies? Industrial pollution—from coal-burning power plants and chemical factories—deposits toxins in our rivers, lakes and oceans, where they're ingested by fish. Twenty-one states have consumer advisories on all their freshwater lakes and rivers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, meaning that their fish are too poisoned to eat regularly. The American Medical Association recommends that a mercury warning be posted wherever fish is sold, but I've never seen one anywhere.

Find out how you can protect yourself. You can even print out a guide to make better choices when buying or ordering fish.

How can we, as consumers and citizens, protect ourselves?

• Ask your doctor for a heavy-metal test of your blood, urine or hair, and if you test positive, follow the protocol for doctor-supervised detox.
• To calculate your own acceptable level of mercury consumption, which varies by weight, go to gotmercury.org.
• Print the guide from Physicians for Social Responsibility to help you make smart choices when ordering or buying fish, or go to the organization's website: www.mercuryaction.org. PDF Print your guide now. 
• Participate in the Greenpeace/University of North Carolina study by ordering a mercury test kit for $25 at usa.greenpeace.org/mercury.
• Join the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org), Waterkeeper Alliance (waterkeeper.org), or other watchdog organizations to stay informed of legislation, mercury pollution, and actions you can take.
• Call or e-mail your senators (www.senate.gov) and representatives (www.house.gov/writerep), and tell them you don't want mercury in your fish or in your body. Urge them to support legislation that would reduce the mercury emissions from power plants and chemical factories in order to lower the levels in fish.

Print your guide now.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Print your guide now. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see this file. Download it here.

• Participate in the Greenpeace/University of North Carolina study by ordering a mercury test kit for $25 at usa.greenpeace.org/mercury.
• Join the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org), Waterkeeper Alliance (waterkeeper.org), or other watchdog organizations to stay informed of legislation, mercury pollution, and actions you can take.
• Call or e-mail your senators (www.senate.gov) and representatives (www.house.gov/writerep), and tell them you don't want mercury in your fish or in your body. Urge them to support legislation that would reduce the mercury emissions from power plants and chemical factories in order to lower the levels in fish.