Baked Salmon, Hold The Mercury...

Here, fishy! I have been trying to eat more fish, for myself and my weirdness and for my family. It's good for you! Well, kind of.

Of course I have heard that fish has mercury, but as I was frying up some orange roughy the other night I realized I had some unanswered questions.

"DH, why do fish have mercury in them? Is it naturally occurring?"

"No, it's from pollution."

"Like, manmade pollution? Like it's our fault that we can't eat fish without worrying about mercury poisoning?"

"Basically."

Sadly, I was surprised by this news. For some reason I thought that mercury was something fish had always had inside them, which shows just how naive I can be! I did some research on mercury in fish and where the he** it's coming from. (The short answer-no one is sure, but it does seem like it's mostly our fault.)

From PBS, because I like them: http://www.pbs.org/now/science/mercuryinfish.html

"Mercury occurs both naturally and from man-made sources. Some of it can be traced to coal-burning power plants. Smokestacks release toxic mercury emissions which rain down into rivers, lakes, and oceans. Bacteria convert the mercury to a form that's easily absorbed by insects and other small organisms. Mercury moves up the food chain as small fish eat the small organisms and big fish eat the smaller fish. The highest concentrations accumulate in large predators such as shark, swordfish and tuna...some of America's favorite fish."

I'm just curious--if toxic-mercury-rain is raining down on rivers and lakes, what else is it raining on and poisoning?! Another gem from this particular article: "In 1998, the FDA stopped widely testing for mercury in fish." Just because they didn't feel like it. :)

Advice from the Environmental Protection Agency: http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm

1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
2. Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
3. Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna.

From Blabbedy-Blah Office in California: http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/hg/index.html

"Methylmercury in fish comes from mercury in the aquatic environment. Mercury, a metal, is widely found in nature in rock and soil, and is washed into surface waters during storms. Mercury evaporates from rock, soil, and water into the air, and then falls back to the earth in rain, often far from where it started. Human activities redistribute mercury and can increase its concentration in the aquatic environment."

It's nice to know it's not all our fault. Seriously, that's nice to know. :)

So, I will stick with the fishies that are 'lowest' in mercury levels but I will also accept the fact that they ALL have mercury to some extent or another.

I also have an anecdote to share; my dad has high cholesterol (extremely high) and was told to take more fish oil. After a month or so on 'more' fish oil, his cholesterol dropped about 400 points. Suffice to say, fishies are good for you, minus the mercury.