Popular sushi fish loaded with mercury

Revised data just released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that bigeye tuna, called ahi, is high in mercury, averaging 0.639 parts per million (ppm) of mercury. The highest mercury test result in ahi exceeded the FDA's 1.0 ppm action level. Sushi and tuna steaks of bigeye tuna are commonly sold as ahi in restaurants and stores. The FDA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) already warn women and children to restrict their consumption of albacore tuna (0.357 ppm of mercury) because of the dangers of methylmercury, a powerful neurotoxin, but currently fail to do so for bigeye. Ahi has nearly twice as much mercury as albacore on average. "The only responsible action for the FDA is to revise their warnings and alert the public. At this time, the FDA has failed to post a press release about the new data on their web site," said Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network and its GotMercury.org program. "The updated FDA data shows that the FDA should immediately revise its March 2004 mercury in seafood advisory to include ahi as a fish for women and children to avoid," said Eli Saddler, attorney and public health analyst for GotMercury.Org. By comparison, the FDA and EPA warn women and children not to eat king mackerel (0.730 ppm), swordfish (0.97 ppm), shark (0.988 ppm), and tilefish (1.45 ppm). Bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, is one of the two species known as ahi in Hawaii and is a popular seafood item, especially in sushi restaurants. Consumers are at risk from eating ahi–usually as fresh tuna steaks and in sushi–and should be aware of the risks of consuming too much ahi, especially women who are or intend to become pregnant, and children. Children are especially vulnerable to methylmercury, the toxic organic form found in fish, because it can harm neurological development–resulting lower IQ, heart irregularities, and motor skill problems. "GotMercury.Org is updating our mercury-in-seafood calculator today so that consumers will have the best available, latest data for calculating their risk from methylmercury in ahi and other fish," said Saddler. "Eating tuna is like playing Russian Roulette because the FDA does not test and remove individual fish determined to have mercury levels above the action level of one ppm, like Canada and the European Union do," said Saddler. "Without regular testing and action by the FDA, there is no way to know how much mercury you are ingesting with the individual fish you purchase." "While affordable, rapid testing of fish for mercury exists, neither the government nor most seafood retailers are using it yet in the US, but GotMercury.Org and Turtle Island are calling upon both the FDA and large retailers to start using the new technology immediately to protect public health," said Steiner. GotMercury.Org, a free, online mercury-in-seafood calculator will be revised to reflect the FDA's updated mercury in tuna data. GotMercury.Org educates consumers on healthier seafood choices by using the EPA and FDA data to calculate how much seafood is safe to eat in a week. or example, a 130 pound woman who ate just one eight ounce ahi steak this week would exceed her EPA safe level of mercury by about 350 percent. A child of 40 pounds, eating the same ahi steak this week, would exceed the EPA safe level of mercury by about 1,139 percent. Such a level in the child would far exceed the uncertainty factor used in calculating the FDA's level.