Not long back, fish was considered to be among the healthiest foods available. However, what is concerning is that latest findings of the United States Geological Survey study have found all the fish they sampled from almost 300 streams across the country were contaminated with mercury!
During the sample study, scientists detected that almost one-fourth of the fish were contaminated with the mercury levels beyond the measure for human protection, especially for people who eat a normal amount of fish. Over 66 percent of the fish sampled by the scientists contained mercury levels that went beyond to the standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for fish-consuming mammals, Mercola reported.
In fact, exposure to mercury has the potential to damage various vital organs of the body, including the kidneys, lungs and brain. Some of the usual symptoms related to mercury poisoning include a lack of coordination, disturbed sensation and sensory impairment.
Consuming such contaminated fish may result in the mercury poisoning of the brain as well as the nervous system. In fact, pregnant women and small children, whose brains are still developing, are more vulnerable. Exposing infants to mercury may result in cerebral palsy, mental retardation, blindness and deafness.
Nevertheless, people who still would like to include fish in their dinner occasionally, ought to know that some fishes cause more problems compared to others. Hence, they need to avoid some types of fishes, such as sea bass, tuna steaks, marlin, canned tuna, oysters, swordfish, shark, white croaker, walleye and largemouth bass. Moreover, one should preferably avoid fish caught in the polluted waters of in Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Meanwhile, a study undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center examined wastewater effluent for 150 pollutants and detected 81 present in their samples. They collectively detected 81 analytes in effluent, 25 analytes in estuary water, as well as 42 analytes in fish tissue. They also detected several compounds like sertraline, triclosan, estrone, fluoxetine, metformin, and nonylphenol were detected in water and tissue at concentrations that may cause adverse effects in fish, another report stated.
According to this study, salmon is considered to be an indicator species. In other words, they serve as a measure of the prevailing environmental conditions. Scientists studied juvenile Chinook salmon and Pacific staghorn sculpin, both native to Puget Sound.
