Women in Coastal Areas Are Found to Have Higher Mercury Levels

[Guest guest]

*Women in Coastal Areas Are Found to Have Higher Mercury Levels*

By t Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, September 23, 2005; A03

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092201899.\

html

Women in coastal communities have twice as much mercury in their blood

as those living inland, according to an analysis by an Environmental

Protection Agency scientist.

The preliminary findings, based on a survey of 3,600 women conducted by

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1999 and 2002,

provide fresh evidence of the link between fish consumption and

concentrations of methylmercury, a neurotoxin that causes developmental

problems in young children.

The study focused on the 10 percent of women with the highest mercury

levels, and in that group, it found that inland residents had an average

level of 2.4 parts per billion, compared with 5.9 parts per billion for

coastal residents. EPA guidelines hold that mercury levels higher than

3.5 parts per billion pose a possible health threat.

Mercury, spewed into the air in emissions from power plants and other

sources, ends up in water and accumulates in predator fish such as tuna

and swordfish. In pregnant women with high levels, methylmercury crosses

the placenta and can affect the developing brain of the fetus.

" What's evident in these data is there's a real difference between the

coastal and non-coastal " women, said Mahaffey, who conducted the

analysis as director of the EPA's division of exposure assessment,

coordination and policy. " The message is people need to eat a variety of

foods and, when choosing fish species, they need to choose more than one

type of fish. "

The EPA recommends that women of childbearing age limit their albacore

tuna consumption to six ounces, or an average meal, a week. The agency

suggests that women eat as much as 12 ounces a week of fish or shellfish

that are lower in mercury, such as salmon, shrimp and trout.

Mahaffey said agency scientists did not obtain a detailed diet breakdown

from the women, but they assumed that those living in coastal areas ate

more fish. A study published this year found that French women living on

the coast consume three times as much fish as those living inland.

American women living on the Atlantic Coast had much higher mercury

levels than those living on the Pacific or Gulf coasts. Atlantic Coast

residents had average levels of 7.7 parts per billion, while women on

the Pacific had levels of 4.7 and women on the Gulf Coast had 3.2 parts

per billion.

Mahaffey said she could not account for the discrepancy, adding, " Fish

are just not all the same. "

The study, obtained by The Washington Post from the nonprofit Natural

Resources News Service, also indicated that wealthier women were more

likely than poor women to have elevated mercury levels. Women earning

less than $20,000 annually had an average level of 2.8 parts per

billion, while women earning more than $20,000 had 3.9 parts per billion.

Environmentalists said the survey -- along with another this week in the

journal Environmental Health Perspectives that showed Asian, Pacific

Islander and Native American women have higher mercury levels than women

from other backgrounds -- should remind Americans of the health dangers

contaminated fish can pose.

" It reaffirms there's a strong connection to ocean fish, but that's not

to say non-coastal residents are safe, " said Jackie Savitz, who directs

the seafood contamination campaign at Oceana, an advocacy group. " Alarms

should really be sounded for everyone. "

Oceana has lobbied grocery store chains -- including Safeway, Wal-Mart

and Whole Foods -- to post signs identifying which fish are high in mercury.

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[Guest guest]

> If the researchers did not obtain a diet breakdown, how can they

> conclusively say that the higher mercury levels are caused by fish

> consumption? Anecdotally, that kind of conclusion may be ok for

> discussion purposes, but in a scientific paper???

I thought it was lame too. Women on the east coast had much higher Hg

than those in the west -- most likely from air pollution sweeping

east, right?

Also, salmon IS high in Hg, as I learned from a link someone posted

here. It's worse than tuna.

Nell