Does mercury contamination outweigh the health benefits of eating fish?
The risk of getting too much mercury or other contaminants from fish is generally outweighed by the health benefits that omega-3 fatty acids have. The main types of toxins in fish are mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The amount of toxins depends on the type of fish and where it’s caught. Mercury occurs naturally in small amounts in the environment. But industrial pollution can produce mercury that accumulates in lakes, rivers and oceans. Microorganisms in these bodies of water convert the mercury to a highly toxic form, called methyl mercury. When fish eat these microorganisms, methyl mercury builds up in the bodies of the fish. Large fish that are higher in the food chain — such as shark, tilefish, swordfish and king mackerel — tend to have higher levels of methyl mercury than do smaller fish. Larger fish eat the smaller fish, gaining higher concentrations of the toxin. The longer a fish lives, the larger it grows and the more mercury it can collect. Pay attentio
The risk of getting too much mercury or other contaminants from fish is generally outweighed by the health benefits that omega-3 fatty acids have. The main types of toxins in fish are mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The amount of toxins depends on the type of fish and where it’s caught. Mercury occurs naturally in small amounts in the environment. But industrial pollution can produce mercury that accumulates in lakes, rivers and oceans, which turns up in the food fish eat. When fish eat this food, mercury builds up in the bodies of the fish. Large fish that are higher in the food chain — such as shark, tilefish, swordfish and king mackerel — tend to have higher levels of mercury than do smaller fish. Larger fish eat the smaller fish, gaining higher concentrations of the toxin. The longer a fish lives, the larger it grows and the more mercury it can collect. Pay attention to the type of fish you eat, how much you eat, and other information such as state advisories
