Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T00:44:19.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mercury, fish and health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2013

Get access

In a nutshell

Fish contain, along with healthy nutrients, low levels of mercury and other contaminants. Large, older and predatory fish (e.g. swordfish) tend to have more.

Whilst the health impacts of low levels of Hg are uncertain, adverse neurodevelopmental and CV effects are possible. Some restraint is advisable in how much is eaten of fish with higher Hg concentrations, especially for pregnant women and children.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Verbeke, W. et al. Consumer perception versus scientific evidence about health benefits and safety risks from fish consumption. Public Health Nutr. 2005 Jun;8(4):422–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Virtanen, JK. et al. Mercury as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Feb;18(2):7585.Google Scholar
3. Nesheim, MC. et al. Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks. Institute of Medicine, National Academies Press, Washington, 2006.Google Scholar
4. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Advice on fish consumption: benefits and risks. TSO, London, 2004.Google Scholar
5. Rados, C. FDA, EPA revise guidelines on mercury in fish. FDA Consum. 2004 May-Jun;38(3):89.Google Scholar
6. Torpy, JM. et al. JAMA patient page. Eating fish: health benefits and risks. JAMA. 2006 Oct 18;296(15):1926.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Hastein, T. et al. Food safety hazards that occur during the production stage: challenges for fish farming and the fishing industry. Rev Sci Tech. 2006 Aug;25(2):607–25.Google Scholar
8. Gochfeld, M. et al. Good fish/bad fish: a composite benefit-risk by dose curve. Neurotoxicology. 2005 Aug;26(4):511–20.Google Scholar
9. Boudou, A. et al. Aquatic ecotoxicology: from the ecosystem to the cellular and molecular levels. Environ Health Perspect. 1997 Feb;105 Suppl 1:2135.Google Scholar
10. Dewailly, E. et al. Risk and benefits from consuming salmon and trout: A Canadian perspective. Food Chem Toxicol. 2007 Jan 20; [Epub ahead of print]Google Scholar
11. Passos, CJ. et al. Fish consumption and bioindicators of inorganic mercury exposure. Sci Total Environ. 2007 Feb 1;373(1):6876.Google Scholar
12. Sato, RL. et al. Antepartum seafood consumption and mercury levels in newborn cord blood. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Jun;194(6):1683–8.Google Scholar
13. McDowell, MA. et al. Hair mercury levels in U. S. children and women of childbearing age: reference range data from NHANES 1999–2000. Environ Health Perspect. 2004 Aug;112(11):1165–71.Google Scholar
14. Hightower, JM. et al. Mercury levels in high-end consumers of fish. Environ Health Perspect. 2003 Apr;111(4):604–8.Google Scholar
15. US Department of Health and Human Services and US Environmental Protection Agency. 2006. Mercury levels in commercial fish and shellfish. US Department of Health and Human Services and US Environmental Protection Agency. 2006.Google Scholar
16. Debes, F. et al. Impact of prenatal methylmercury exposure on neurobehavioral function at age 14 years. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2006 Sep-Oct;28(5):536–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Grandjean, P. et al. Attenuated growth of breast-fed children exposed to increased concentrations of methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls. FASEB J. 2003 Apr;17(6):699701.Google Scholar
18. Sorensen, N. et al. Prenatal methylmercury exposure as a cardiovascular risk factor at seven years of age. Epidemiology. 1999 Jul;10(4):370–5.Google Scholar
19. Crump, KS. et al. Influence of prenatal mercury exposure upon scholastic and psychological test performance: benchmark analysis of a New Zealand cohort. Risk Anal. 1998 Dec;18(6):701–13.Google Scholar
20. Davidson, PW. et al. Effects of prenatal and postnatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption on neurodevelopment: outcomes at 66 months of age in the Seychelles Child Development Study. JAMA. 1998 Aug 26;280(8):701–7.Google Scholar
21. Davidson, PW. et al. Prenatal methyl mercury exposure from fish consumption and child development: a review of evidence and perspectives from the Seychelles Child Development Study. Neurotoxicology. 2006 Dec;27(6):1106–9.Google Scholar
22. Ng, DK. et al. Low-level chronic mercury exposure in children and adolescents: meta-analysis. Pediatr Int. 2007 Feb;49(1):80–7.Google Scholar
23. Harris, HH. et al. The Chemical Form of Mercury in Fish. Science 29 August 2003;301;5637:1203 Google Scholar
24. Clarkson, TW. The three modern faces of mercury. Environ Health Perspect. 2002 Feb;110 Suppl 1:1123.Google Scholar
25. Stern, AH. et al. Do recent data from the Seychelles Islands alter the conclusions of the NRC Report on the toxicological effects of methylmercury? Environ Health. 2004 Jan 30;3(1):2.Google Scholar
26. Cohen, JT. et al. A quantitative analysis of prenatal intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and cognitive development. Am J Prev Med. 2005 Nov;29(4):366–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Cohen, JT. et al. A quantitative analysis of prenatal methyl mercury exposure and cognitive development. Am J Prev Med. 2005 Nov;29(4):353–65.Google Scholar
28. Anon. Advice on fish consumption. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, Canberra, 2004.Google Scholar